If It Hadn't Been For Love
by euphematic
Summary: Armed with a check list of sure fire ways to win one's heart and her two best friends, Quinn is ready to go. Rachel Berry, prepare yourself. You're about to be wooed.
1. The List

"I'm bored."

"Me, too."

"Me,three."

Santana sighed, "What's new?" She sat up from her place on Quinn's floor, glancing at the digital alarm clock on the bedside table,"We've been her for four hours doing jack_ shit_. It's friggin pathetic!"

Quinn scowled at her from the bed, "You got any better ideas?"

When her question was met with silence, Quinn smirked, "That's what I thought."

"We could play a game." Brittany suggested.

"Sure, B, whatcha got?"

Brittany frowned, "What do you mean?"

"What do want to _play_, Brit." Santana amended.

"Oh! I don't know. Maybe we could play hide and seek! I love hide and seek," she grinned and clapped at her brilliant idea. Quinn spoke up,

"Don't you think we're a little too..._old_ for that, B?"

"No." Came the blunt answer from both the girl in question and the Latina.

"You can even go first, Q! Start counting right..." Brittany slowly stood up from the floor and began backing away to the door, Santana following suit, "NOW!" she yelled, disappearing out the door and out of sight with Santana in tow. Quinn huffed and threw her head back onto her pillows. She knew well enough that Santana and Brittany wouldn't be coming back, and they most definitely _weren't_ planning on playing hide and seek. She glowered at the wall; they were always doing this.

It wasn't always unwelcome. Quinn liked to be alone; it gave her time to think. Her thoughts as of late, however, didn't exactly make her want to be alone with them. Mostly because they involved..._her._ Everything about her just captivated Quinn. When she walked, Quinn stared, in awe of her confidence and beauty. When she talked, Quinn, unlike the majority of the people in the world, listened. And when she sang, _God_, when she sang, Quinn died a little inside. She died because Rachel wasn't hers to moon over, wasn't hers to hold, and most of all because she just wasn't hers.

It royally sucked. She needed some way to get the ball rolling, to start the process of mending her less-than-stellar relationship Rachel Berry, but every time she attempted to come up with something, her mind drew a blank and instead of getting anywhere all she got was frustrated and horny.

The sound of the front door opening pulled Quinn from her thoughts.

"Lucy, I'm hoooome!" Judy's voice carried upstairs. Quinn smiled to herself, getting up and going to greet her mother.

"Hey, Mom, you're home early," she said, letting herself get pulled into a bear hug by said mom.

"Yeah, well, I thought I'd suprise you to make up for being gone yesterday. You know I hate leaving on these business trips," Judy pouted.

Quinn chuckled, "You gotta do what you gotta do, though, right?"

"Right! So, how was your day? Was it terribly boring without your hip mother to keep you company? I bet it was." Judy made her way over to the couch, pulling Quinn down to sit next to her. She smiled as Quinn laid her head on her shoulder; they'd come so far.

"Well, Santana and Brittany _were_ here, but they ditched me for, well, you know."

Judy nodded sagely, "Understandable."

Quinn looked affronted, "You trying to tell me something, mother?"

"Not at all, daughter dear, not at all."

Quinn pouted before burying her head in Judy's shoulder. She really had missed her. Her relationship with her mom had healed rather nicely she had moved back in last year, and then some. Far from the oppressive home life she used to have, Quinn now had the assurance of her mother that she could tell her anything without fear of abandonment. It meant a lot to Quinn that her mom made the effort- it was something she'd never known, parental love and support. It made it infinitely easier for her (though still nowhere near _easy_) to tell her mom she had feelings for another girl.

When Quinn finally got the words out of her mouth, Judy had blinked, asked if she was sure, then what she wanted for dinner. It had been, hands down, the _best_ bacon cheeseburger Quinn ever ate in her life.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Hm?"

Quinn took a deep breath. She hesitated before saying, "Um, I need your help." She had reached the end of her rope, and desperate times call for desperate measures. It was time to ask her mom. Judy looked at her ecspectantly. "It's about...Rachel..." Quinn trailed off, not really knowing how to finish.

Judy released a breath. "Oh, well...why didn't you say so? What's the, er, problem? Is something going on? I'm sure I can help." She tried to smile reassuringly, but it did nothing to quell Quinn's nausea. She suddenly didn't want to continue this conversation, but her mother's overjoyed demeanor indicated she was ecstatic Quinn felt comfortable enough to talk to her about this, and she didn't have the heart to make that dissappear.

"Well, it's more like the problem is the _lack_ of something going on. I...I see her every day and I just, I don't know what to do. I haven't actually _talked_ to her in God knows how long, and she just carrys on like everything's fine and dandy when it's, it's not! I'm always somewhere in the background just _watching_ her like a creepy stalker and it tears me up that we're not friends, we're not enemies, we're not...anything..." Quinn had begun to softly cry into Judy as her impassioned speech winded down, "and I just want it to change. I'd do anything to make it change." She continued on mumbling and crying, staining the older woman's shirt with salty tears. Judy just held her and waited.

When it had died down to little sniffles, she lifted Quinn's face to meet her eyes. It hurt her to see her precious daughter like this, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to fix it. "Quinn. Look at me. We're gonna fix this, ok?" she said, wiping the remaining tears from Quinn's face.

Quinn smiled half-heartedly, "You really think so?" she sniffed.

"Yeah. In fact, I have an idea! Come, come, come." Judy hopped up, grabbing her laptop and taking a seat at the dining room table. "I said _come on_ Quinnie, we don't have time to waste! Girl troubles or not, you still have school tommorrow." she said sternly.

Quinn heaved herself up off the couch and trudged over to the table, taking a seat next to Judy. She had a feeling this wouldn't end well; most of Judy's "ideas" tended not to. Like the time a few months ago she had tried to cheer Quinn's somber mood up by setting her up on a blind date with a girl she met at the grocery store. The girl had been a total creep and asked to rub Quinn's feet repeatedly until she had enough and just left. Needless to say, she was a little wary of what her mom had in mind.

"Aha! Here we go...aaaaaand print!" Judy punctuated her sentence with a click, and headed over to the printer to fetch the papers coming out. She looked at them proudly, and rejoined Quinn at the table, sliding the papers across it for her to look over.

Quinn blanched, "'20 Sure Fire Ways To Woo Your Special Someone'? Are you joking? Please tell me you're joking. Did you, did you _Google_ this?" Her cheeks were rapidly going from chalk-white to red as a chili pepper as she gaped at the list.

Judy huffed indignantly, "I'll have you know, Quinn Fabray, Google is a _very _helpful and reliable source of information, and forgive me for not knowing how to help you from experience!"

Quinn softened. How could she be mad at someone who only wanted to help? She sighed, "It's okay, Mom, I know, and thanks, but I don't think this will help me very much. I'm just going to head on up to my room, okay?"

"Alright. But...at least, you know, look it over? It's worth a try, yeah?"

Quinn nodded, padding up the stairs and entering her room. She set the list down on her desk and, without a second glance, flopped onto her bed and went to sleep.

Monday after school found Santana, Brittany, and Quinn in much the same place and situation as the day before.

"I'm bored."

"Me, too."

...

"Q?"

"Huh?"

"You've been spacing out on us like, all day, what's your deal?" Santana asked.

Quinn blushed, "Sorry, I just, I have...a lot on my mind."

Santana scoffed and threw a pillow at her head, "Don't give me all that evasive bullshit. It may work on everyone else, but not me. What's going on?" Behind the harsh tone and irritated expression, Quinn could see the genuine concern in Santana's eyes. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she told Brittany and Santana about Rachel. They were her best friends after all, wasn't it like, girl code to tell them stuff like that?

_No, not when it involves someone they hate and think you do too. Not when they're so obsessed with image that there's no telling how they'd react to something like that._

"Well?"

"There's nothing going on, S, just drop it. I'm fine. I promise." Quinn stick her pinky out for Santana to, reluctantly, shake.

"Whatever. You guys wanna watch a movie?" The tan girl said, getting up to rifle through Quinn's DVD collection. As she was passing Quinn's desk, something caught Santana's eye. She picked up a piece of paper, reading off the title, "'20 Sure Fire Ways To Woo Your Special Someone'. Well, well, well. Care to explain this, Q?" She said, waving it in the air.

Quinn flushed, spluttering out, "Put that down! It's- It's not anything! It's for-I had- science project-"

Santana cackled, (no seriously, she _cackled_), and jumped on the bed keeping the paper out of Quinn's reach as she was frantically grabbing at it. Finally Quinn gave up and buried her face in her pillows, determined not to let Santana get anything out of her.

"Nothing's going on, eh? Who is it, Q, c'mon. Spill."

"No."

"So you admit there's something to tell?"

"No!"

"Come _on_, you can trust us! RIght, Britt?"

"Right!"

"_No!_"

Santana huffed, "Ugh!" She caught Brittany's eye and nodded. Brittany got up and crawled onto the bed next to Quinn and began to pet her hair. She bent down to whisper in Quinn's ear.

"Hey, you know S is joking. You don't have to tell us." She coaxed Quinn out of her pillow mound and looked her in the eye, putting on a subtle pout. "I mean, we only want to help. You've been, y'know, sad lately and I tried giving you a teddy bear but it didn't work so I don't know what else to do." Quinn appeared to be cracking, so she kept going, "Maybe if you...told us what's making you sad we can try and make you happy again..."

Quinn groaned. The situation was not ideal. But, maybe, she should reconsider telling the other two. It would really help to have someone to talk to that wouldn't _Google_ everything.

"Ok, fine..."

Santana and Brittany shared a triumphant grin.

"Maybe I...like somebody. And I don't know what to do about it so, I asked my mom and she, well, she gave me _that_." She gestured gingerly to the list. "And...that's it, really."

Santana shot her a pointed look, "Well who _is_ it, is what's important."

"Yeah, maybe we can help! I'd like to help you, Q.! Brittany piped up.

Quinn braced herself for the inevitable freakout, "It's...um, ." She pushed out, half mumbling. Her friends just sat there confusedly trying to decipher her words.

"I'm sorry, _what? _Can you like, speak English or something?"

"I like Rachel, okay! I like Rachel, Rachel Rachel. I like her. A lot. Happy?" Actually, she _did_ feel immensely better admitting it out loud to someone who wasn't her mother. She waited with baited breath for their reactions.

Santana shrugged, "Yep, I already knew that." Brittany nodded her agreement. Quinn looked at them in shock.

"You-what? How? I- I'm that obvious?" She stuttered.

"No, we just know you." The other blonded grinned, "SO now you told us, we can help you ask Rachel out! This is gonna be so fun!" she clapped.

"Uh, No! That is most definitely _not_ what we're going to do!" Quinn objected, "In fact, we're not doing anything!"

Santana sat up, "Why not? I mean, you want her, right?" Quinn nodded, unsure where this was going. "So...what's the problem?" She was met with silence. "You telling me that you, Quinn Fabray, the _Queen_ of McKinley, don't have the _guts_ to go after Berry?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you." Quinn stated.

"Well, too bad. We're gonna put this baby to use." She held up the checklist.

"Wait...you're not..." Quinn realized what Santana was insinuating, "You're serious." She deadpanned. "So, let me get this straight. You want me to use this...list to...win Rachel over?"

"That's the plan."

"No way." Quinn scoffed.

"You got any better ideas?"

Quinn looked down at her hands, mulling it over. After a few minutes she met Santana's eyes, defeated. "No..."

Santana smirked, "That's what I thought." She threw Quinn's earlier words back at her. Quinn scowled. "Well let's get started then," she clapped her hands together, looking over the list.

Quinn exhaled and mentally prepared herself for the roller coaster she knew was coming. It was almost depressing, really, all the work she'd have to do.

Then she remembered who she was fighting for, and she briefly imagined what it'd be like when she got to the finish line. Suddenly, it all seemed like nothing compared to the end result. Whatever obstacles were waiting along the road would have to get out of the damn way because if this year ended and Rachel still wasn't hers,well, her name wasn't Quinn Fabray. Quinn picked up the paper, scanning the items on it. She looked at Santana and Brittany and grinned.

"Let's do this."

** A/N: I knooooow I should update "More", but this story wouldn't leave my head alone! So, enjoy! Also, I am SO open to suggestions as to what should be on the list! It would be a tremendous help and I would be forever grateful for some ideas on that. So with this story, we're probably looking at 20 or so chapters, one for each item and maybe an epilogue. Hit me up and tell me what you think! **

**-euphematic**


	2. PreRequisites Part 1

If It Hadn't Been For Love Chapter 2: Pre-requisites

"So. You remember what you have to do, right?"

"Oh my god, for the millionth time: _yes_! Jesus, San, you'd think that _you're_ the one who's trying to achieve the impossible here." Quinn shut her locker and turned to face Santana, "I got this," she repeated assuredly.

Santana nodded, "Well, your sexual frustration and repression is so blatantly _obvious_ and you're always wound so damn tight and its just_ exhausting _to look at you, so fix this...situation," she gestured her hands in Quinn's general direction,"before I go crazy."

"Whatever," Quinn huffed before heading to first period. They had decided that Quinn could get nowhere on the whole Rachel front if the girl still believed Quinn hated her. Therefore, before the wooing commenced, she had to make sure Rachel was comfortable around her. Quinn arrived in English and began plotting.

Come third period (AP Government with Rachel), she'd get there early, engage the brunette in conversation, then smoothly slip in an invite to come over or something. Then, Rachel would come to her house, they'd chill, and Quinn would subtlely warm Rachel up for the coming storm of charm and irresistability Quinn would rain on her.

Perfect.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The end of second period saw Quinn bounding out of her desk and borderline sprinting to her next class. She may have looked a little batshit, but hey, Quinn Fabray does _nothing_ half-assed.

She arrived six minutes early and took a seat next to the desk she knew Rachel sat in every day, bouncing her knee and anxiously glancing at the door as she began to wait. Wasn't Rachel like, totally anal about being early to everything she ever attended? Quinn checked the clock; it had been a whole thirty seconds. Where _was _she?

Finally, after a few minutes, the diva walked in and sat down, jumping when she saw Quinn in the next seat looking at her.

She cleared her throat, "Hello, Quinn."

Quinn frowned at her cordial tone; Rachel took it as a response and shrugged, turning to the board. "Wait!" Quinn exclaimed, reaching out with her hand before realising she had nowhere to put it and quickly put it back down.

Rachel turned to the blonde, eyebrow raised. _Hey!_, Quinn thought,_ that's _my_ thing._

"Yes?" Rachel looked annoyed- not a good sign.

"I...uhh..." Quinn struggled to find something to say to 'break the ice', per say. In hindsight, she probably should have thought of this beforehand, "did you do the...homework we had?" She pushed out. _Laaaaaaaaame_.

"You didn't?" Rachel asked, smiling a little to herself, "That's not like you."

Quinn had, in fact, done the homework. Days ago. "Yeah well, I had stuff, you know?"

Rachel nodded, "Of course. Well, class is starting soon, so..." She began turning away from Quinn, who suddenly remembered what the whole point of this conversation was; she was supposed to be charming and smooth and invite Rachel over!

As she opened her mouth to speak, the teacher walked in and clapped his hands, "Gooooood morning, class!" He exclaimed.

"Dammit," Quinn muttered under her breath. _Oh well, there's still time._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

By the end of the day, Quinn was convinced that Rachel was some sort of ninja. There was absolutely no other way she could have evaded Quinn's searching eyes all day.

Nevertheless, Quinn was a smart cookie, and she had used the down time to formulate a better strategy of attack for their next encounter; if she pulled another Finn and stuttered her way through conversation, she'd look like an ass. Not acceptable.

Walking into the choir room for glee, Quinn saw that the only seats left were between Santana and Mike and between Rachel and Artie. She began to move in Santana's direction, not wanting to creep Rachel out with too much too soon, but as she did so the Latina caught her eye and jerked her head toward Rachel. Quinn hesitated, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room (thankfully no one was paying attention).

She looked pleadingly once more at Santana, who mouthed "Pussy" and promptly turned away, then sighed and sat delicately in the seat on Rachel's left. She looked over at the girl, who was bent over her sheet music, and lightly cleared her throat to get her attention.

When that failed, Quinn looked away and took a moment to gain her composure. She could do this, she was _not_ a pansy. Besides, she had planned this out, painstakingly so, and she was absolutely confident in the infallibility of her brilliant plan.

So she reached over and gently tapped Rachel's shoulder, causing the brunette to glance up from her lap confusedly at first, then smile brightly. Quinn smiled back, "Teeth." _Shit! That is _so not_ what I meant to say! Shit, shit, shit. Say something! _

Rachel was looking more confused by the second.

"Um, what?" Was the diva's intelligient response.

Quinn put her hands up in front of her to emphasize her words, "I, that's not, what I meant to say was, hello."

"Oh, well, why didn't you? Hello to you too, Quinn." She turned back to her music; Quinn continued to stare at her, perplexed. This was not what she had predicted. Rachel noticed her gaze on her and turned in her chair to face Quinn, "Is there something you needed?"

"No. Yes. I was wondering, wou-"

"Good afternoon guys, we ready to get started?" Mr. Schue exclaimed as he strolled in the door, the last one to arrive for rehearsal. Quinn fumed. Of course. Rachel looked apologetic and mouthed that they could continue later.

Maybe it was the fact that they had something to continue; maybe it was the exciting prospect of getting this whole operation really started, or maybe it was the way the light from the windows was hitting Mr. Schue's product-laden hair and reflecting right into Quinn's eyes, effectively blinding her, but she couldn't focus for the life of her on what was going on for the entirety of the hour.

In fact, the only part of the rehearsal she had actually payed attention to was the part where Mr. Schue bid them adieu and retreated to his office. This was it; time to turn on the charm. For real this time, though, she was gonna be smooth. What the hell was she thinking, anyway? 'Teeth'? Well, it'd been the first thing to pop into her head, for no apparent reason at all.

It was now or never. Well, not really, but it made Quinn feel more driven as she took a deep breath and turned around to go proposition Rachel with plans to hang out. When she did, though, she found the diva to be nowhere in sight. It appeared that she had already left. Quinn sighed. Of course Rachel probably only said they'd finish later to be polite. What had she expected when they weren't even friends?

"I guess you totally failed, huh?"

Quinn nailed Santana with a dark look, "Shut up, S." Santana laughed and gestured for Quinn to sit down, taking the seat next to her when she did.

The dark-haired girl put her arm around the back of Quinn's chair and breathed as she looked out the window, "What happened?" she inquired softly.

"I'm stupid, that's what happened," at Santana's questioning look, the blonde continued, "Well I got interrupted by the teacher in third period, but even then I was saying like, the lamest things ever. _Then_, when I had the chance to talk to her right before glee started, I freked out and said 'Teeth'," she finished, shaking her head.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" The girl burst into laughter, weakly holding up a finger to point at Quinn, "You said teeth? What the fuck? You are _so _lame! If Berry wasn't even lamer than you are, I'd say you have no chance," she pushed out through her incessant chortling. When her laughing finally died down, she stood up and patted Quinn on the back, "Cheer up, Q, there's always tomorrow, yeah?"

Quinn nodded slowly, "Yeah...yeah there is! Come tomorrow, I'm going to charm her pants off!" She exclaimed loudly, "Uh, I mean" cough, "make...friendly..." The blonde flushed.

"Right..." Santana chuckled once more and turned around to leave, waving over her shoulder as she walked out the door, leaving Quinn alone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Tuesday Afternoon**

Rachel had had a pretty good day. Her classes had been relatively easy, her PB&J sandwich for lunch had tasted particularly delicious, and best of all, she hadn't been hassled, bothered, or nagged by anyone (read: Finn) all day. He had been especially pleading yesterday after glee when he had dragged her to the auditorium and listed all the reasons why she should take him back. After she politely denied his advances (for she was never one to be uncivil), Rachel had gone back to the choir room in search of a certain blonde; they'd had a conversation to finish after all. And maybe she was kind of wondering what was going on the the other girl, what with the whole teeh thing.

After their encounter, Rachel had discretely checked her teeth in her reflection on her phone, but there was nothing. Then there was earlier, when Quinn had uncharacteristically sat next to her in AP Government and, even more uncharacteristically, forgot to do the homework. Something was up. Therefore, Rachel was eager to get to the choir room and confront Quinn about her behavior. If her intention had been to make Rachel suspicious, it had definitely worked.

Arriving at the choir room and seeing that no one was there, Rachel sat down and fished her iPod out of her purse. Closing her eyes, she leaned back and immersed herself in the soft music. Naturally, she didn't notice that someone had sat down next to her until she opened her eyes.

"Quinn!" The brunette jumped and clutched at her heart.

Said blonde was busy taking out a piece of paper and doodling on it, making nonsensical patterns and shapes. She paused her drawing and glanced at Rachel, "Hey." She turned her attention back to her lap, leaving Rachel to stare and ponder what went on in that pretty head of Quinn's. She decided to ask her herself.

"Quinn?"

"Yes?" Quinn responded absently as she scribbled away.

"We're friends, right?" This got the other girl to pause. She slowly looked up and met Rachel's eye.

"Well, yeah, I suppose."

Rachel nodded, not sure what to say now; the two just sat in tense silence, both wanting to speak but neither doing so.

After a few minutes, Quinn broke it, "Nobody's here." She commented.

"Yes, it is kind of wierd, how early do you think we were?" She said, checking her phone for the time; it was 3:00, glee should've been in full swing by now.

"Hmm. Let me text S." She said, pulling out her phone and quickly typing a message. She turned back to Rachel, "So. Um, how was your...day?"

Rachel studied Quinn for a moment, trying to see if she was being genuine or not. It appeared so, " Exceptional, actually," the diva beamed, happy someone was taking interest in her everyday life. "What about you?"

Quinn smiled; she couldn't help it, the shorter girl's smile was so contagious. "It was so-so. I was pretty distracted-" she was cut off by her phone vibrating. She looked down at it, then back at Rachel, "Did _you_ know glee was cancelled today?"

"What? No, was I supposed to?"

Quinn waved a hand, "Whatever, it doesn't matter now." They lapsed into silence again, neither wanting to leave.

"So what were you distracted by today?" Rachel asked carefully; she wasn't quite sure how far their tentative friendship would allow her to go.

Quinn looked caught off guard, "Oh. Um..." She trailed off, attempting to gather the courage to say what she wanted to say.

"You don't have to tell me, of course," Rachel backtracked, "I was just asking."

"No, no it's fine." Cough. "Well, honestly?" Quinn took a calming breath and looked straight into Rachel's eyes, "You."

To say the least, Rachel was taken aback. That was not at _all_ the answer she'd been expecting. She pointed to herself, "Me?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean. No. But yes. I," Quinn shut her eyes and willed herself to be smooth, be cool. "I was wondering if you wanted to, y'know, hang out or something." She mentally patted herself on the back; that hadn't sounded too shaky.

Rachel's brow furrowed, "Why?" She asked simply.

"Why not?" The blonde countered.

Rachel paused, considering the situation. Quinn seemed honest enough, but she was still wary. "Fair enough," she agreed.

"So that's a yes?" Quinn said, getting up and gathering her stuff.

Rachel nodded.

"Cool. I'll text you. I gotta go though, my mom cherishes dinnertime." She playfully rolled her eyes, and walked to the door, "Later, Rachel." She threw over her shoulder as the door closed.

Rachel sat in her chair, a little dumb struck.

"What just happened?" She breathed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Quinn stepped out into the parking lot, she pumped her fist in the air and jumped, shouting, "FUCK YES!"

She hadn't expected it to be that easy, and she was baffled as to why she couldn't have done it before. She just hoped Rachel never found out that she'd given a 'message' from Mr. Schue to all the glee kids that practice was cancelled. As for the man himself, Quinn had alerted him about a 75%-off-all-hair-products sale that the local Sally Hansen's and he'd eaten it up. It'd been all too easy.

"What's for dinner?" She asked her mom as she entered the kitchen, kicking off her shoes.

Judy grinned at her daughter, "I made your favorite."

Quinn's face lit up, "Mom, you're the best!"

"I know" the older blonde replied, wiping imaginary dust off her shoulder, "So what has you in such a chipper mood?"

Quinn shrugged, "I just had a good day. I'm gonna go up to my room, call me when dinner's ready, ok? Oh and heads up, Rachel's coming over Thursday. I told you it was a four day week, right?"

"Oh! Well I must find something to make; she's vegan, yes?"

"I got it covered, Mom, thanks." Quinn rushed up the stairs and into her room, falling onto the bed and pulling out her phone. She pressed 'New Text' and scrolled through her contacts, stopping at Rachel's name. She put her fingers to the keys, debating on whether it was too soon to do this or not. _Screw it,_ she thought, typing out a message.

**Hey, it's Quinn. Does Thursday sound good?**

She hit send and settled into her comforter, pulling out a book to keep her company while she waited. As soon as she opened it, her phone buzzed.

**Thursday sounds wonderful. -R**

Quinn was stumped. What should she say now? She wanted to keep talking, but Rachel hadn't given her much to work with.

**Perfect :) So what's up?-Q**

Oh well, generic was better than nothing.

**Can I ask you a question? -R**

**Sure?-Q**

**Why are you being so...nice all of a sudden? If you don't mind me asking. -R**

Quinn debated what to say to this. She didn't want to say she wanted to be friends because that ight forever trap her in the friend zone and she certainly wasn't about to tell her of her massive crush on the other girl. She decided on mysterious.

**I just thought it was high time for...new beginnings, if that makes sense. -Q**

**Oh, well, that's admirable. And to answer your previous question, I'm currently listening to music.-R**

**Reading :P -Q**

**Wanna hear a joke? -R**

**Depends, is it funny? -Q**

**Why are graveyards fenced in? -R**

**Lol I don't know, why? -Q**

**Because people are just**_** dying**_** to get in! Ha ha! -R**

This elicited a giggle from the blonde; she had a secret love for bad jokes.

**You're kind of adorable :) -Q**

She hit send and waited with baited breath. She didn't know how Rachel would take that, but she couldn't _not_ say it. Plus, she needed to keep a sort of subtle flirtiness when around the brunette so it wouldn't be as wierd when she asked her out. Or at least, that's what Brittany said.

**Why thank you, Ms. Fabray, it's good to know I'm appreciated (: -R**

**Ms. Fabray? You make me sound like an old lady . -Q**

"Quinn! Dinner!"

Quinn debated skipping out; who needs food anyway?

"Come on, Quinnie! Don't make your poor, sad ol' mother wait!" Rolling her eyes at her mother's dramatics, Quinn shot Rachel another text saying she had to go.

When she got to the table, she checked her phone one last time.

**Goodbye, Quinn -R**

**p.s- I think this 'new beginning' is off to a marvelous start :)**

Quinn's face cracked into an unbelievbly large grin.

"What are _you_ so smiley about?"

"Oh, you know, just," Quinn bit her lip in an attempt to reign in her smile, "things."

Judy smiled knowingly, "Right. _Things._"She teased, winking as she did so.

Quinn crumpled up her napkin and playfully threw it at her mom, "Shut up, I'm happy."

The older blonde looked at her daughter, really _looked _at her, and it was plain to anyone that she was happier than she'd been in a long while. Her life in the past year had been disastrous. And really, all a good parent ever really wants is to see their child's beautiful smile peeking out through the wreckage.

She mirrored her daughter's expression of pure joy.

"I know."

**A/N: So sorry for the wait, I've been terribly busy BUT the next update should be in a few days as I've already got the next chapter written, and I'll definitely be more regular with them now my finals are coming to a close. I hope you liked this although it's kind of just a lead-into sort of chapter :) Tell me whatcha think! Cheers!**

**P.s- Not edited, sorry for any mistakes!**


	3. PreRequisites Part 2

Quinn's phone buzzed in the middle of English on Thursday afternoon.

**What did the apple say to the orange? -R**

The blonde smiled; she and Rachel had exchanged texts almost all day yesterday, and it was quickly becoming the highlight of Quinn's classes.

**Pray tell, my dear, what did the apple say? -Q**

**Nothing, stupid, apples can't talk.-R **

Quinn let out a muffled laugh, earning a glare from the scholarly fellow beside her who was intently focused on the lesson.

**Okay, that one was really bad :P -Q**

**Shut up, you like it -R**

**Touche, touche. So am I giving you a ride this afternoon or what?-Q**

**That would be nice, yes. -R**

**It's settled then, your coach will be waiting at precisely 3:45 p.m on this fine day, don't be late -Q**

**Wouldn't dream of it. Ok I gotta jet, Mr. Myers' givin me the stink eye -R**

Quinn bit her lip to keep from smiling and looking like a wierdo. 'I gotta jet'? Who used that anymore? She decided that everyone should; it was absolutely adorable.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright guys, Nationals is coming up in a couple of months, so we can't get too complacent," Mr. Schuester checked his watch and clapped his hands together, "Looks like time's up; see you tomorrow, everybody have a good day."

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief; Schue had gone into one of his well-intentioned but snore-inducing inspirational speeches,and the club was getting antsy.

Half of them immediately hopped up out of their seats and hurried out the door. Quinn got up and went over to where Rachel was standing at the piano gathering her stuff. Today was the day; Rachel wouldn't know what hit her. Of course, Quinn would never _actually_ hit Rachel. What she would do, however, was smack her upside the head with her metaphorical baseball bat of charm.

"Hey, need help?" She offered; she'd read something in that list about chivalry or whatever.

Rachel shook her head, "I got it, thanks," she said, smiling.

The two didn't notice Finn approaching them with a suspicious look on his face. He tapped Rachel on the shoulder, "Hey Rach, can I just borrow Quinn for a minute?" He asked innocently.

Rachel looked to Quinn, who profusely shook her head no behind Finn's back. Rachel smirked, "Sure."

Quinn narrowed her eyes at the diva and pointed at her, mouthing 'You're on my list.'.

Rachel giggled, "Take as much time as you need."

Finn smiled his 'charming' smile, "Thanks, it won't be long." He turned around and gestured for Quinn to follow him out into the hall. He quickly turned hostile, "What do you think you're doing?"

Quinn scoffed, "Excuse me?"

"You know, being friends with Rachel. What's your angle? I'm not stupid, Quinn."

"Sure you aren't." Quinn deadpanned, "And I have no angle, just so you know." She took a step closer to him, drawing herself to her full height, "Maybe I just want to be her friend because I want to. Maybe I think she's really awesome; is that so hard to believe, Finn? That someone would want her?"

Finn's eyes widened, "W-what?"

"Shit," Quinn muttered. She hadn't meant to let that slip!

"What the hell, Qui-" The tall boy began, but Quinn quickly put a hand over his mouth.

"Finn, don't." The two stood in the hallway, silent for a few seconds before,

"Ew! What the fuck, Finn?" Quinn shrieked, pulling away from Finn, "Did you seriously just _lick _me? How old are you?"

Finn crossed his arms and pouted, looking somewhat like a humongous toddler throwing a fit, "It got you off me, didn't it?"

"Oh my god, yo-" Quinn sighed, knowing she'd get nowhere by fighting him, "forget it."

"You're not a lesbian, Quinn, and neither is Rachel. She's _mine_!" Finn stumbled, starting to get fired up again.

Quinn took a steadying breath so as to not snap at the boy. "First, contrary to what you may think, she is not yours; she does not belong to you, or anybody. Second, nobody really knows about this so," she began, "I know I've sorta treated you like shit in the past, but I _really_ don't want to screw this up, and you're a part of that."

At this, Finn looked confused. Figures.

"You were Rachel's first love or whatever, and there's like, an unwritten code that I need your approval to, ahem, go after her. Well, I don't _need_ your approval, but it would be nice. And a lot easier to pursue her if you weren't bombarding her with your stupid "We're Meant To Be" speech all the time."

The boy's brow furrowed, "It's not stupid...is it?" He looked utterly dejected.

The blonde took pity on him; she stepped forward again, placing her hands lightly on Finn's shoulders, preparing herself for pep-talk. This is what you did with little children when they hd problems, right? "Finn. You're a great guy, really, and Rachel's a wonderful girl," she paused, thinking about said girl waiting for her back in the choir room. Finn looked similarly dazed at the mention of the brunette, "but the harsh reality is, you're not 'meant to be', so to speak. The bottom line is that you never really treated her right, and I'm not putting the blame entirely on you," she held up a hand to stop him from speaking, "Rach had her share of mistakes, but you know it and she knows it: you wouldn't last."

She let that sink in for a moment before she got to the real purpose of her speech, " So, I'm asking you with all the sincerity I could possibly muster, to please, let me have a chance. Let me try."

Quinn finished and looked at Finn, who was looking intently over her shoulder, conflict plain in his eyes. He turned his head and met the blonde's gaze,

"I...think you're right," he concluded. Quinn's body sagged in relief, "I'll always love her, but I guess it's just not enough sometimes, huh?" Quinn nodded, and Finn cracked a smile, "Hey, I'll get over it, right? And we can even be, like, bros or something, me and you." Quinn laughed, Finn could be a great person when he wanted to.

"Actually, on second thought, can we be something other than bros cause, you know, we've like, made out and stuff and that'd be really wierd." This made Quinn laugh a little harder,

"Whatever you want, Finny, whateeever you want. But hey, Rachel's probably wondering what we're up to out here so, um, we'd better get back."

Rachel looked up to see Finn and Quinn stroll into the room looking like sunshine and rainbows, " What exactly did you two _do?_" She inquired when they reached her. "I know I said take as long as you want, but really, no one ever actually _means_ you can tak-"

She was cut off when Finn suddenly engulfed her in a firm but gentle hug. Rachel was caught off guard, but she patted his back as he stood, relishing what he knew would be the last time he'd have her in his rms like that. He stepped back as abruptly as he came forward, and tried to discretely wipe his eyes. "Sorry. I have to go." He gave Quinn a look as if to say 'She's all yours now', then his eyes lingered on Rachel. Then he tore his gaze from the two and covered the room in a few strides, gently closing the door after himself.

"...That was odd." Rachel noted. _But then again, so were the last few days._

_"_Yeah." Quinn glanced down at her phone, "Oh lookie there, it's 3:43. Don't you have somewhere to be?" She questioned playfully.

"Oh! Why, yes, I believe I do. Would you do me the honor of escorting me to my carriage, ma'am?"

Quinn rolled her eyes fondly because the prim and proper manner Rachel was speaking in actually wasn't that far off from how she usually talked. She went out on a limb and grabbed the other girl's hand and lead her to the parking lot. She turned around when they got to the sidewalk, "Ok, wait here." She said and quickly strode away in what was presumably the direction of her car.

"O...kay?" Rachel leaned back against the railing by the sidewalk, blowing air out of her mouth and humming under her breath while she waited. A minute later, Quinn's black Mustang pulled up in front of her. The front door opened, the blonde herself stepping out and approaching Rachel, offering her arm,

"Milady, right this way," Rachel giggled and shook her head, letting Quinn open her door for her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So. Here we are, my humble abode," Quinn punctuated her sentence with a wave of her hand.

Rachel gasped, taking in the marble floors and rich, dark decorum, "It's beautiful!"

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Well, I dunno, it's just a house. I can think of profoundly more beautiful things, " She said, giving the diva a meaningful look. Rachel blushed and looked away. Quinn grinned, she was SO good. "Come on, let's go to my room." Rachel nodded, following the blonde up the staircase. When they got to her room, Quinn tossed her backpack down and plopped onto her bed, resting her chin on her hand. She laughed, "You can sit down, Rachel."

Rachel flushed again and set her own stuff down before delicately taking a seat on the other side of the bed. Quinn rolled her eyes and grabbed Rachel's hand, pulling her towards her end of the bed, "Don't be a stranger. We're friends, remember?" She smiled, "So what do you wanna do?"

The brunette shrugged, "I don't know. I never really go to people's houses, so I have no clue what one is supposed to do." She admitted softly.

Quinn frowned at that, her heart breaking for the girl. She scooted closer and wrapped her arm around the smaller girl, "Well, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?"

Rachel looked up into Quinn's eyes, suprise filling them to the brim, "Really?"

Quinn's lips quirked as she looked down at Rachel, "Yeah."

Four hours later, they were still on Quinn's bed, but now they were lying next to one another, staring up at the ceiling and talking. Neither girl ever though there could be so much to talk about with one person, in one sitting no less. They had discussed all the normal stuff like school and light family background, but then they began to really were interrupted by the sound of the front door downstairs opening,

"Hellooooooooooo," Quinn's eyes widened at the sound of her mother's voice, had it really been that long? A look at the clock on her wall confirmed that yes, it had been. She turned to Rachel, "Guess it's time to meet my mom," she chuckled. "Good evening, mother dear," Quinn called down the stairs, drawing Judy's attention to her and her companion.

Her mom's face split into a smile so big she was afraid it might split in half at any second, "Well, hello there, you must be...Rachel, is it?" Judy sked, pretending she didn't know exactly who the brunette was.

Rachel nodded, moving to shake Judy's hand and being pulled into a bear hug. Rachel squeaked, but then gained her composure, "Hello Mrs. Fabray, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am indeed Rachel Berry. No doubt you remember me from my performance at last year's Regionals, it was if I may say so myself, quite memorable."

Judy laughed, addressing her daughter, "She's adorable." Quinn nodded her agreement, "Well now Rachel, you are staying for dinner, right?"

Rachel looked at Quinn, "Well it's up to Quinn. I mean, if it were me, I'd undoubtedly extend an invitation to dinner because, duh, who wouldn't want to spend time with me?" She teased, quickly getting comfortable around Quinn and her mother.

Quinn smiled crookedly and pinched Rachel's cheek, "Well, I can't say no to that, now can I?"

At the dinner table, Rachel took her first bite of the vegan 'Sloppy Janes' on her plate and nearly moaned at the taste, "What _is _this? You are an amazing cook, Mrs. Fabray!" She exclaimed.

Judy chuckled, "Actually, dear, Quinne here made these puppies. She got up like an hour and a half early today so she could."

Quinn blushed as Rachel looked at her, astonished, "What?" She asked the diva.

Rachel simply took another bite, "Nothing, just that I will worship you forever if you make these more often," she declared through her mouthful of food.

"Well, I'm glad you like them," Quinn beamed, "but close your mouth, you look like a caveman."

Rachel narrowed her eyes, "I resent that!"

"I resent that!" Quinn mocked, smiling.

"Jerk." Rachel pouted.

"Drama Queen," The blonde sing-songed under her breath.

Judy looked on in amusement as the girls continued their playful banter throughout the dinner. When they had all finished, Judy jumped up from the table and began collecting dishes, "Now you chickadees go on and have fun and do girl things, I'll take care of these," she winked at them.

Quinn rolled her eyes, then pondered the fact that she'd rolled her eyes about fifty times in the past few hours. When she and Rachel got back up to her room, they saw it was 9:37.

"Oh my, I didn't realize the time!"

Quinn didn't answer, afraid that if she commented on the time it would seem like she wanted the girl to leave.

Rachel cleared her throat and awkwardly half-turned her body to the door, "I probably should go..." She walked over to her bg and bent down to get her phone out.

"Yeah..." Quinn said absently, too busy taking in the sight of Rachel's exquisite behind as she was turned around.

"I had a splendid time, Quinn."

"Yeah..."

Rachel stood back up, phone in hand, "So, I'm gonna just..." She gestured to the door with her thumb.

"Yeah...Wait, what?" Quinn snapped out of it and registered what Rachel had been saying, "You're leaving?"

"It's late," Rachel shrugged, not really answering the question. Despite her words, however, she made no move to walk out the door.

Quinn shuffled her feet, "You don't have to go, you know..." She mumbled, "You can stay here." Her heart began to pound faster,"If you want to, I mean. I wouldn't mind. Not that, there's anything to, er, mind, you- I'd actually prefer it. But you know, Well- I'm-I meant- or- yeah, hold on, I , shit, um-"

"Quinn," Rachel held up a hand to stop her embarassing rambling and smiled, "I want to.

Quinn smiled gratefully, "But I need clothes." Rachel finished.

"No problemo, senorita, you can use mine. Just gimme a sec," She moved to her drawers and stopped. Shit. She had a dilemma; what could she give Rachel to wear? If she gave her shorts or something, Quinn might die from heatstroke, but she couldn't give her like, a onesie or Rachel'd think Quinn thought she was ugly or something and needed to cover up.

She decided on sweatpants and a tank top; a compromise. Maybe she could hold out if she couldn't see Rachel's legs. She handed them to the other girl, "Here, you can change in the bathroom a little ways down the hall to the left."

Rachel nodded and left. Quinn apporached her desk, opening the first drawer and pulling out her list. She delicately folded it up and put it back down, patting it, "Soon, my dear, soon." Dear god, what was she becoming? Talking to a paper? She shook her head and closed the drawer as Rachel walked back in. Quinn mentally facepalmed; her compromise didn't work at all. Her tan arms were amazingly toned, and Quinn could practically see the brunette's abs through her shirt. She gulped. Somehow, Rachel's glorious legs still found a way to make themselves known and prominent underneath the thin red cheerios sweatpants. Quinn wondered how they did that; she'd have to ask Rachel one day. In the meantime, she felt her neck heat up in embarassment as the other girl caught her staring.

Quinn coughed, "Well,uh, do you wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure!" Rachel chirped and hopped onto the bed, "You pick." She then turned around and crawled up the bed to get a pillow. Quinn took one look at Rachel crawling on all fours on _her _bed (something she'd only ever seen in her less-than-appropriate dreams) and raised her eyes to the ceiling and silently prayed to God, or whoever would listen, for the restraint to make it through the night.

"Okay," She said shakily, going to her movie drawer and picking out the first movie she laid eyes on.

Rachel looked at her curiously as she tossed the movie case to the brunette, "Interesting choice..."

"What?" Quinn looked down to see that she'd picked 'Schindler's List'. "Oh. _Oh. _Sorry, um, hold on," She grabbed the movie and replaced it with something a little lighter- 'The Ring'.

The brunette smiled, amused, "You're an odd duck, Quinn Fabray."

"Leave me alone," Quinn scrunched up her face and put the movie in. She climbed into the bed and settled next to the diva under the covers, grabbing the remote to hit play.

An hour and a half in, both girls were knocked out in Quinn's bed. The blonde was on her stomach and had Rachel's waist wrapped in a tight grip with her right arm, while the other girl's leg had sneakily wormed its way underneath Quinn's own legs as they lay there, both snoring I might add, and oblivious to everything that existed outside of that bedroom.

**Quick A/N: I'm sorry, I just HAD to add in the cliche yet necessary first-time-sleep-cuddling. It's like a rite of passage to have something like that in a story :P Anyway, for serious, I have a question for you all: Do you think Rachel should find out about the list and the whole wooing plan? Not now, of course, but like, eventually? Cause I'm on the edge about that. Let me know what you think. Also: unedited.**

**euphematic**


	4. Breakfast At Quinnie's

If It Hadn't Been For Love Chapter Four: Breakfast At Quinnie's

**Unedited!**

Quinn awoke slowly. She cautiously cracked one eye open, peeking around her bedroom. She groggily sat up and spotted Rachel, who was splayed across the bed, taking up most of the room. She was literally laying with every limb spread out as far as it could go. The dark-haired girl looked like she fell asleep in the middle of making a snow angel. The blonde smiled to herself, quietly reveling in the other girl's presence, her beauty, and her...unbelievably loud snoring. Quinn didn't know what scared her more; the fact that Rachel's snoring sounded like a lawnmower or the fact that instead of finding it annoying or barbaric, she thought it was the cutest thing in the world. She ran a hand through her hair and stood up from the bed, tip-toeing to her dresser and retrieving the list from the top drawer. Quinn slowly unfolded it, knowing that this time, she was actually going to put it into action. When she had it unfolded, the blonde glanced back at Rachel behind her, still out cold in her bed. Her eyes flicked down to the paper, catching an item she could do right now:

_Breakfast In Bed- Who doesn't love being waited on? Wake up a little early one morning and fix your boo some food-even bring it to them in bed! They'll eat it up-pun intended- and you could even squeeze a little something out of it, too, if you catch my drift._

Quinn rolled her eyes at the ridiculous commentary. While she wasn't a culinary genius or anything, she lways could hold her own in the kitchen, and Rachel certainly had seemed to enjoyed her cookery the night before. Quinn smirked as she took a moment to recall the sensual noises the brunette had made last night. Okay, that sounded wrong. Last night with her mom. No! At _dinner _with her mom. She shook her head to clear the distracting thoughts. What she needed to be thinking about was: what could she make for Rachel? The girl tapped her chin; vegans ate pancakes, right? And fruit! Rach loved fruit, didn't she? Quinn was 80% sure she'd heard Rachel blabbering about the merits of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables everyday. But that was a while ago, what if she hates them now? _Opinions _can _change_, she thought.

"Ugh!" She growled and shoved the paper back in her desk, making her way downstairs to the kitchen. Quinn spent the next 20 minutes making her best attempt at pancakes, blackberry topping, and chopping up every kind of fruit she could find in their fridge. As she skimmed past the packs of bacon temptingly calling out to her from the shelf, the blonde had taken a moment of silence to mourn the fact that she couldn't have bacon today for fear of grossing Rachel out. But maybe...

"Screw it," she muttered, grabbing the bacon and pulling out a pan from the cabinet. When she had the strips cooking, she turned back to the fruit.

Quinn didn't know what you did with cubed fruit; did you just...dump them on a plate? She tried that, then after a moment of deliberation she reached forward and began arranging the fruit by color into a rainbow. She shook her head, looking at the rainbow. _No, what if she thinks I'm trying to like, tell her something? _Pulling the plate back towards her, Quinn rearranged the cubes into a heart. She paused, _What if she thinks I'm trying to tell her something? _ She thought again.

_Well, stupid, you're wooing her! That's the message you _want _to send!_

_But it's creepy! We _just _started hanging out, what if she thinks I'm one of those annoying clingy girls who follow you around yammering about clubs you should join together and where you should get mani/pedis after school? _

_What? You think she'll think that because you made her fruit into a heart? Where's your brain, Q? _Her inner voice chided.

Quinn blushed at her own irrationality.

_Whatever._

She had a feeling that if the smarter half of herself had a face, it'd be smirking like a motherfucker. She took the pancakes and placed them inside the heart, finishing it off by drizzling the blackberry syrup she'd made over the whole plate. She stepped back and examined her handiwork. Pleased, Quinn sat down at the table and quickly devoured her own simple (yet glorious) breakfast of bacon and toast. She wanted to savor it, but the sleeping beauty upstairs could wake at any moment and it would totally ruin her plan.

She shoved the last of the meal in her mouth and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, pouring it in a glass. She put the glass and plate on a tray and carefully brought the food up the stairs, praying that the diva was still asleep. When she reached the top of the staircase, Quinn couldn't help but laugh. She could hear the other girl snoring all the way out here. _Well, at least I know she's asleep._ She nudged her bedroom door open with her foot, set the tray down on the desk and approached Rachel's sleeping form. The blonde knelt down beside the bed near Rachel's face.

"Rachel," she whispered. Nothing. "Rachel, wake up," Quinn prodded, poking her finger on the other girl's cheek.

"Snnnfgarrebrfn," Rachel rolled over onto her stomach.

"Rachel!" Quinn whisper-yelled.

The brunette smacked her lips, bunching up the pillow underneath her head.

Quinn looked around frustratedly. She spied her other pillow and picked it up, smacking Rachel's face with it- not hard enough to hurt, but enough to freaking wake her up, and it succeeded. The brunette's eyes shot open,

"Ahh!" She sat up, frantically looking around for a clue as to where she was.

Quinn recognized that she was confused and put a hand on her shoulder, "Rach, you're at my house." She explained gently.

Rachel turned to look at her with wide brown eyes that relaxed when they met Quinn's hazel ones. "Quinn?" She rubbed her eyes with her hands, very much looking like a little toddler who just woke up from a nap.

"Yeah."

"What time is it?" Her stomach growled quite noticeably, and she blushed.

Quinn's lips quirked, "Time for breakfast, I see."

As Rachel began to get up from her spot on the bed, the blonde hurriedly put her hands on both of Rachel's shoulders, effectively keeping her seated on her bed. She poked the girl's nose, "Hang on," she whispered, getting up to arrange the pillows into a support for Rachel's back. "Lay back," she commanded, patting the pilows.

Rachel complied, her hands in her lap, "What for?" Quinn didn't answer, instead bringing over the tray.

"Lift your hands up."

The brunette's eyes widened as she realized what Quinn was doing, "Quinn..."

Quinn placed the tray in her lap, and Rachel stared down at it, not sure what to do. No one had ever made her breakfast in bed before. Quinn got paranoid at the girl's unresponsiveness, "Um...do you like it?" She chanced nevrously. She shouldn't be this on edge about whether Rachel approved of the breakfast she'd made or not.

Rachel met her eyes, "It's...it's wonderful, but,"

"But?" Quinn prompted. Rachel looked down at the plate again, then to Quinn. She slowly reached down and picked up a grape, studying it.

She shook her head, "Nothing. It's awesome." Rachel smiled, "I'd ask to hug you, but..." she gestured to the tray in her lap.

Quinn laughed and sat down on the bed next to her, nudging her with her elbow, "Raincheck, then." She smiled lopsidedly, then jerked her head toward the plate,"Dig in! I spent time on that, you know."

Rachel picked at another piece of fruit, "I don't want to. It's too pretty."

Quinn was mentally whooping; success!

She reached over and stole a chunk of apple, popping it in her mouth, "Well, I have no problem."

Rachel giggled and slapped at her hand, "Hey! Mine!"

Quinn scoffed, "Just eat it, Berry."

And eat it she did, "_What_ did you _put_ in these, Quinn? You're a _goddess_."

Quinn smiled mysteriously, "Oh just..stuff." She'd actually just used pancake mix, but Rachel didn't need to know that.

The girl pouted but didn't argue, opting instead to scarf down her breakfast. Quinn looked on in amusement and marveled at how fast the diva could eat when she was hungry.

When Rachel was done, she sat back against the pillows and placed her hands behind her head, turning to look at Quinn, "Thank you, Quinn...for, you know, everything." She said softly. Quinn knew she wasn't talking about breakfast.

"Hey," she admonished," there's _nothing_ to thank me for. You deserve it." She leaned over and flicked Rachel's forehead, "Now clean up your mess, Chewbacca." She teased.

Rachel quirked her eyebrow at the name, "Star Wars? Really?"

"Shut up." Quinn said, taking the tray and putting it on her bedside table. She leaned back onto the headboard and they settled into silence. "You snore really loud," Quinn broke it, not taking her eyes off the ceiling. She felt Rachel turn to gape at her.

"I do not!" She spluttered, "...do I?"

Quinn nodded, playfully exaggerating her head movements. She tapped her chin, looking upwards, "It sounds kind of like...like a train is passing right next to my ear. All night." She grinned.

Rachel huffed, then smirked, "Well, I guess it's just another thing we have in common."

Quinn's eyes went wide as saucers, "No!" She breathed.

It was Rachel's turn to nod, "You wanna know what _you_ sound like?"

Quinn frantically shook her head.

"Like, if you took the roar Niagra Falls," Quinn put her hands on her ears. Rachel laughed and tackled her, struggling to get the girl's hands off her ears, "and combined it with the sound of thirty motorcycles starting up at one time, it'd be the sound of your snoring...dialed down a notch or ten." Quinn stopped struggling as she realized her position- namely, underneath a flushed, bedheaded Rachel Berry who was staring her down, had her hands trapped by her head and was smirking all sexily, apparently not aware of how seductive her stare actually was. The blonde squirmed and coughed. Rachel seemed to comprehend that their position wasn't exactly the most parent-friendly should Judy decide to walk in.

Rachel rolled off of Quinn and back to her spot, brushing her hair over her shoulder and clearing her throat, "So clearly, I am not the louder snorer here." She finished lamely.

Quinn nodded blankly, too turned on to argue, "Uh huh."

Silence.

"I'm gonna...um, grab a shower..." The blonde said, getting up and stiffly walking towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Rachel's brow furrowed at Quinn's behavior but shrugged and got out of bed. She exited the room and went downstairs, hearing someone in the kitchen. She entered it to find Judy Fabray humming a Christmas carol while fixing a pot of coffee. The older woman noticed Rachel walked in, and smiled brightly.

"Morning, Sunshine! Sleep well? Where's Quinn? Want some breakfast?" Judy rapidly fired off.

_My, she's chipper in the morning!_ Rachel thought, "Um, good morning, yes, shower, and thank you, but Quinn already made me some."

Judy raised an eyebrow, and Rachel could definitely see where Quinn got that from, "Oh? She did now?"

The younger girl nodded perkily, "Yes. She brought it to me in bed-pancakes and fruit. She is a wonderful cook, and so very sweet." She added.

Judy inwardly cheered for her daughter, who seemed to be progressing with Rachel in leaps and bounds. If this kept up, they'd be happily together in no time. "Yes, she is. Well do you want some coffee?"

"Actually, that would be much appreciated." Rachel beamed.

"Sit down," Judy said, fixing Rachel a mug.

When they were both seated, Judy took a sip of her cup, "So...you're Jewish?" She blurted, trying to make conversation. Hey, if her daughter was gonna date this girl, she might as well get to know her. But she had to start with the light stuff, then slowly segue into the things she was obligated to find out as the parent of the girlfriend. Er, to-be-girlfriend.

Rachel nodded, "Yes, I am." She replied slowly, not sure where this was leading.

"Do you do any drugs?" Judy asked abruptly, taking Rachel aback.

"Excuse me? Absolutely not! Do you have any idea how bad that is for my _voice_? Are you implying that you think I am engaging in such destructive behaviour?" The brunette shrieked. Judy jumped at the volume of Rachel's voice and tried to discreetly rub her ears.

"No! Not at all, I was merely making conversation!"

Rachel still looked suspicious and offended, so she tried again,

"Rachel, you have to understand that I must know these things about Quinnie's friends; I can't have her hanging around with delinquents, now can I? Not after that Puckerman boy, anyway; although he has exquisite taste in beer..." Rachel raised her eyebrow, but decided not to question how Ms. Fabray knew of Puck's 'exquisite' beer preferences. This was already getting wierd enough.

She cleared her throat and clasped her hands together, straightening her posture and becoming the picture of formal, "Well, Ms. Fabray-"

"Judy, dear."

"-I am pleased that you have enough concern for Quinn to make certain she has good friends, I assure you that I do not, do _not_, ever partake in such barbaric activities, and I do not plan to in the near or far future."

Judy began to nod, then stopped, "Wait, what? Say that last part again?"

"I...do not partake in such barbaric..activities?" Rachel repeated slowly.

The older woman waved her hand dismissively, "No, no, no, the one after that."

"I do not plan to in the near or far fut-"

"_Never_?"

"Um...yes, that's what I said."

Judy gaped, "What about, like, college and stuff? You're not even gonna _experiment?_"

Rachel looked flustered, not really sure what one said when discussing 'experimenting' with their friend's mom. "Well, I suppose, I- maybe, I mean, not that-"

She was cut off (thankfully) by a knock on the wall of the kitchen. Both of them jumped and turned to see Quinn's bemused face, "What's going on in here, might I ask?"

Judy opened her mouth to respond and Quinn held up a hand to stop her, "Nevermind. I don't wanna know." She turned to Rachel, "You wanna take the shower now? I have more clothes you can borrow, I'll set them out for you in a minute if you hop in now." She offered.

Rachel looked grateful for a reason to escape the kitchen, "Yes. Thank you, Quinn, I will get right on it." She proceeded to hop off her chair and scurry out of the kitchen.

Quinn turned on her mom, "What did you do?" She demanded.

"I'm innocent, I swear!" Judy insisted, holding her hands up in surrender, "I was just asking her, you know, parent stuff!"

Quinn looked thoroughly unconvinced, "Right." She deadpanned, but decided to drop it. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you," she took the vacated seat that had been Rachel's, "about the list." She said the last two words in a conspirational whisper, and Judy had to lean in to hear.

"Oh yeah? You decided to use it after all? I knew you would," she smirked. "Google knows best."

Quinn mentally rolled her eyes, "Uh huh. Anyway, I did one of the things this morning- it worked like a freaking charm, Mom! She was like 'Oh Quinn, you're my goddess' then she was all up on me and stuff, it was awesome." She concluded cheerily.

Judy raised an eyebrow, "What exactly did you _do?_"

Quinn looked confused for a moment, then reddened when she realized what that must have sounded like, "No! Not like- I just made her breakfast in bed! I wasn't- we didn't-"

ue tank topShe smiled. "So it's all coming along nicely then, eh?"

"Swimmingly."

Judy laughed, "Wonderful. But I must be off to work now, tell Rachel I said goodbye," she leaned down and kissed Quinn's cheek, "and keep me posted, kiddo." She finished with a wink, picking up her purse and heading out the door. Quinn laughed, padding up the stairs to check her phone. She had a new message.

**How did it go? -S**

Quinn debated typing out everything on her phone, then decided against it.

**Bowling? -Q**

**Heeeell yeah! Me n Brits will b there in five -S**

Quinn smiled; bowling had always kind of been their thing. Some girls used the mall as a go-to hangout, but she, Santana, and Brittany had always gone bowling instead. Call it a tradition.

**Can I bring Rach? -Q**

Plus, you know, there was the fact that it was a perfect excuse to keep hanging out with Rachel.

**Sure, why not -S**

Just then, Rachel walked back into the room, dresses in gray sophies and a blue tank top. So, yeah, maybe Quinn did that on purpose. Can you blame her?

"Hey, me, S, and B are going bowling, and I'd love for you to come."

Rachel grabbed a comb off Quinn's dresser and began dragging it through her hair, "Um, when?"

"Like thirty minutes," the blonde replied.

Rachel frowned, "I wish I could, but my dads probably want to at least see me after I've been gone."

_Dammit_, Quinn inwardly cursed.

"Yo yo yo, Auntie Santy's in the hooooouuuse!"

Rachel looked amused and Quinn rolled her eyes, "Wow."

Santana walked in her room a moment later, Brittany in tow.

"Hi, Rachel! Hi, Quinn!" The blonde chirped.

"Hey Brittany"

"B."

Santana clapped her hands together, "So, we going or not? I'm ready to get my bowl on." She turned to Rachel and narrowed her eyes, "You're going down, midget." She said playfully.

"Rachel doesn't want to come."

"_Can't_," Rachel corrected, "My fathers demand my presence for at least a few hours. Plus, I can't bowl to save my life."

Santana shrugged, "We can wait, you can go home and do fatherly bonding shit, then text Q when you're ready to get smited."

Quinn looked at Rachel for confirmation, "It's up to you."

Rachel looked down shyly; she didn't want to all of a sudden monopolize Quinn's time, especially with her best friends.

Quinn sensed her hesitance, "I'd like you to come," she murmured.

"You would?"

"No, she was lying. Duh she wants you to come, she's like in love with you or something," Santana interjected.

Quinn looked at her, mortified, and opened her mouth to say something to draw the attention away from what Santana just said, but the Latina beat her to it, "Just go home and let us know when you're done, kay? Kay." She patted Rachel's back.

Quinn studied the short girl for any sign that she'd taken Santana's comment seriously, but she was busily putting her clothes in her backpack. She turned back to the three, "Alright, well, I'll see you ladies later, then." She began to leave,

"Wait!" Quinn blurted, and Rachel turned around, looking at her questioningly. "...You owe me, remember?" She asked, holding her arms out for a hug. Rachel's face broke into a wide grin as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the blonde, who pulled her in closer and buried her face in her dark hair, forgettin that they were supposed to be new friends. They stayed like that for a minute before they heard Santana's voice,

"I feel like I'm watching porn, break it up, ladies."

They broke apart, blushing. Rachel smoothed her hair and nodded curtly to the other two girls, "Farewell."

As soon as she left, Santana laughed, "'Farewell'? She's a keeper, Fabray."

Quinn scowled, "Shut up. And what was that all about, telling her I'm in love with her!" She flopped down onto her bed.

Santana smirked, "So it's true?"

"What? No! I, well, yeah, but that's not the point-"

"Relax, Prego, she didn't take it seriously. Besides, I needed her out of here so you can spill. What happened in the last 24 hours that you two are suddenly all sexually charged?"

Quinn blanched, "What? Nothing happened, we just hung out, and this morning I made her breakfast in bed, and she loved it."

"Breakfast in bed? Nice," Santana held out her fist for a fist bump, "Hey, isn't that a thing on your Seduction list?"

"It's not a seduction list, Santana, it's a _wooing_ list. Get it right. And yes it is."

"Sweet, so you're getting started? Get the list out."

"You get it, I'm comfy." Quinn said from the bed.

"Lazy ass. Where is it?"

"Desk, top drawer."

Santana pulled it out and unfolded it, scanning the items on it.

"Goddamn, whoever wrote this is the corniest motherfucker alive."

"But, a genius." Quinn said.

"Oh, okay. Here's the one you can do next..." She sat next to Quinn and pulled Brittany into her lap.

The blonde leaned over to look at the list, "It's perfect! I just have to-"

"Yeah yeah, I know, it's in front of my face. Listen, we can plan later, do you have any food up in this joint? I feel like a malnutritioned kid in Kenya."

Quinn tilted her head to the side, "That's...kind of offensive. But yeah, I do. Why haven't you eaten?"

Santana said nothing, but looked down slightly at Brittany, who had leaned her head back onto Santana's shoulder and smirked lightly.

"Oh, no reason at all. Now gimme some food."

**A/N: Whew! That felt a lot longer than it is. First, to 'jacketweather' who pointed out that after 'Born This Way' the "Lucy, I'm hooooome" line in Chapter One was oddly prophetic- that made me legit laught out loud everytime i thought about it- I forgot that was even in here! Also, another question for you guys: What has been your favorite part/line of this story so far? I'm asking because I just want to know what is liked and what I should do more. Oh and, if anyone can oil the gears in my head with some helpful suggestions on items for the list- I would really appreciate it! Ok, this is getting long, hope this was up to par!**

**euphematic**


	5. Ladies Love Direction

**A/N: Happy Sunday! Neglected my studying for this, damn you readers! Drop a comment, share your thoughts, and maaaaaaaybe I'll update faster, JS *nudge nudge* Anyway, welcome to Chapter Five, where reading is a pleasure**

**Ladies Love Direction**

"Daddies! I'm home!" Rachel opened the door and called out into the empty front hall. She heard approaching footsteps and saw her Dad, Amos, exiting the living room with his arms wide open. She grinned and dropped her bag by the door, meeting him halfway in a bear hug.

"Did you have fun, Rach? They were nice to you? Speaking of which," he frowned, "where exactly _were _you?"

Rachel rocked back onto her heels and shiftily looked around the room, "Quinn's..."

She watched as Amos' face darkened, "Rachel, are you sure it's the best idea to hang around her? She _is_ the one that harasses you, is she not? Quinn?"

"Dad! You can trust m-"

"I trust _you_, baby girl, I don't trust _her_! Think of what she's done to you! Someone like that can't be a good influence." He crossed his arms.

Rachel huffed, "She's not like that anymore..."

"Really now," he said skeptically, "did she tell you that?"

"Where's Daddy?"

"Out." Amos said simply. Rachel glared.

"Well, when will he be back?"

"Tonight."

"Okay, well I was going to come home and spend some quality time with my fathers, but seeing as one is out and the other is being _irrational_," she emphasised, "I think I'll just go."

She shot him with one last pointed glare and stepped around him, heading for the stairs. Amos turned to watch her, regret plain on his face. What was he doing? This was his daughter, and soon she wasn't going to be there and he was turning down _time _with her? He shook his head and called, "Rachel!"

She stopped halfway up the stairs and turned around, "Yes?"

"Can you come back down here?" He asked pleadingly.

Rachel softened and descended the staircase, cautiously approaching her father.

Amos swallowed, "I'm...sorry, baby girl. I- You know I'm only trying to look out for you. I don't want to see you hurt...again. You don't understand what it's like to see your baby go through that kind of daily torture and you can't do anything about it. It's, quite frankly, hell."

Rachel looked at the ground, knowing her father was right. She couldn't rush into this...whatever it was, with Quinn. She needed to be able to trust the other girl. Still, Rachel could not remember the last time Quinn, or Santana even for that matter, had bullied her in any way. "I get it, Dad. I'm sorry for getting so upset-"

"Likewise."

"-but, when was the last time I came home crying or upset? The last time I had to do double laundry?"

Amos was silent for a moment, "That doesn't mean anything, I know you sometimes put up a front-"

"Not with you," Rachel interjected, "Never with you or Daddy." She said softly.

He sighed, "Okay, I get what you're saying." Rachel smiled, "But don't you fe-"

Rachel put a hand over his mouth, cutting him off, "Dad. I'm here and I want to spend this time making memories, not arguing. Can we talk about this another time?"

He looked down at her fondly, "Of course. Want to go to this Craft fair I heard about? It's at the Knights of Columbus Hall downtown, my co-workers have all been raving about it. I even hear there's a contest of who can make the most elaborate tree out of a gourd!"

Rachel's eyebrow quirked as she pulled away from his embrace to look up at him, "What happened to the ice cream eating contest?"

Amos made a face, "They decided this would be much more, er, healthier."

Rachel laughed, "Well I'd love to, but I have plans for later in the day and I really just wanted to stay in and maybe watch a movie or something."

"Plans? Oh? Since when did you start having 'plans' that you had to neglect your poor father for?" He said, pulling his glasses off.

She swatted his arm, "Drama queen. I'm going bowling with Quinn, Santana, and Brittany. Don't-" She cut off whatever he had been about to say, "What do you say to some 'Godfather'?"

Amos' face lit up, "Please!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"So." Santana said through a mouthful of chips, "You ever planning on telling the midget about this list?"

Quinn scoffed, "No, she'd think I'm stupid."

"That's cause you are." Santana grinned, earning a glare from Quinn and a slap on the hand from Brittany.

"I think it's sweet." Brittany scolded.

The Latina was quick to change her opinion, nodding, "Totally sweet."

Quinn pinned her with a look that could only be described as saying 'Bitch, please.', "Whatever. The point is, she's never gonna know. I want you guys to promise you won't tell her, or hint at it, " she added, looking at Santana, who shoved another handful of chips in her mouth.

"Uh-huh, anything for you, Romeo- Ow! The fuck was that for?" She exclaimed, plucking the ice cube Quinn had thrown at her from inside her shirt.

Quinn smirked, "Being you."

"Fuck yourself, Fabray."

"Chill, you two."

"B, she started it!" Santana whined, "That jibe was completely unnecessary!"

Brittany simply put her fingers in her ears and looked away, humming something that sounded suspiciously like 'Mr. Roboto'.

Quinn giggled as Santana turned to her and grudgingly apologized, "Uh...sorry and shit. Don't fuck yourself." She paused, "Actually, on second thought, yeah you totally should, maybe then you'd tone down the bitch."

"What's your excuse?" Quinn smirked.

The brunette narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at Quinn, "I swear, Q, if you weren't my sister from another vagina, or, something like that," she waved a hand dismissively, continuing, "I'd kick your ass into 2030 for half the shit you say to me." She snarled, crossing her arms and leaning back against the counter, nudging Brittany to indicate all was sunshine a rainbows again.

"I love you, too, S."

"Mmhmm. Ugh, when is your chica gonna be done? I'm getting restless and I need to get my bowl on."

Just then, Quinn's phone buzzed and she grinned at Santana, "Perfect timing."

**All done! Are you guys coming to pick me up or should I come over there? -R**

Quinn looked up at the other two, "We pickin' her up?"

"Sure."

"Yes! I wanna see where Rach lives!"

"You got it, B." Quinn laughed.

**We'll pick you up. Be ready in 10, gorgeous -Q**

"Casanova," Santana comented, reading the text over Quinn's shoulder.

"I try." Quinn responded, "Alright, you guys go start the car, I gotta pee." She tossed the keys to Santana, jogging up the stairs and to her room. She grabbed the list out of her desk, looking over her task for the day:

_Ladies love direction- If you really want to impress your girl, teach her something! Women love to be guided- especially when they don't know what they're doing. They'll deny it, but knowledge is sexy. And if you can , throw in a little touching here and there, it can never hurt! Go get em' tiger!_

Quinn folded it back up and placed it in its drawer, dashing down the stairs and grabbing her purse. As she got in the car, she began to think,

_I'm a pretty good bowler, right? I can do this._

_Sure. You're good at bowling. If you call that one time you bowled straight gutters good._

_I was like, five, lay off!_

_So you were five two months ago?_

_I hate you. Why are you my inner voice? Why couldn't I get one that's actually _helpful_?_

_You love me._

_No._

_You have to. If you hate me, you hate yourself, and self-hate is like, one of the deadly sins or something._

_Um, no, I'm pretty sure it's not._

_But you agree about the self-hating part? _

_What? No! I didn't say that!_

_You didn't not say it..._

_Shut up! Jesus!_

_You can't love others if you don't love yourself, Quinn. How can you love Rachel and not love me?_

_Wow, okay, is that even a question?_

_...Yes, actually, it is._

_Die._

"What's with the face, Q? You look like you're smelling shit." Santana asked from the backseat, breaking her train of thought (Thank God above).

She caught her eye through the mirror, "Nothing." Silence. "I'm a good bowler, right, San?"

The Latina looked caught off guard. She shifted in her seat and laughed nervously, "Uh- good bowler? Pshh, he-*cough* hell yeah! The best there is..." She trailed off weakly, looking at Brittany for help.

Quinn raised an eyebrow, "B?"

Brittany looked Quinn directly in the eye and said apologetically, "Actually, Q, you kind of suck. But it's okay, cause you're hot."

Quinn looked at her oddly, trying and failing to see the logic in that statement, but hey, it's Brittany. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Thanks for the honesty, Brit. But guys, in all seriousness, how the fuck am I supposed to teach Rachel how to bowl and be all smooth if I suck balls? And S, keep the jibe you're about to make involving me and balls to yourself. If you have any helpful input, however, shoot."

Santana promptly closed her mouth.

"You could always fake it." Brittany commented.

"Elaborate, " Quinn said interestedly.

The other blonde shrugged, "Well, my dance instructor always tells me that when you don't know how to do something to 'Fake it till you make it'. So like, I just pretend I know what I'm doing, and eventually it just...comes to me."

Quinn looked impressed, "Yeah, but you're a natural born dancer, B, and as far as I know, I most definitely have no god-given gift for bowling."

"Oh my god1 Stop whining already; just go in there and woo the shit out of her! You got a better plan, Q?" Santana queried.

"Guess not." Quinn said, then tossed her phone into the backseat, "Do me a favor, text Rach and tell her we're down the street and to come outside."

Santana smirked, "Sure thing," then got to typing.

"Santana," Quinn warned, "for the love of god, don't write anything stupid."

"Would I ever, Quinnie?" The Latina answered innocently, batting her eyelashes.

"In a fucking heartbeat," Quinn muttered crankily, turning onto Rachel's street.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Quinn angrily pushed open the door to the bowling alley and took about five steps before turning around and pulling it open for Rachel (She still had to be smooth, no matter how irritated she was) and then pulling the girl herself aside to one of the tables by the snack bar. She felt a little bad about closing the door on Brittany, but Santana could take care of that herself. Quinn had business to take care of.

"Would you mind telling me why you ignored me the whole way here? Are you mad at me? Did I do something _wrong_? Because whatever it is, I'm sorry."

Rachel sniffed, "If you don't know what you did, I don't think you're truly apologetic."

Quinn took a breath through her nose; this girl. "Rach, I honestly can't think of anything that I possibly could have done! I saw you this morning and that's the last time I talked to you! Well, not counting the text I sent before we left-"

"Wait a minute, what?" Rachel's brow furrowed, "You didn't send that other one?"

"Huh? What other o-..._Santana_!" Quinn said the girl's name like a curse. Rachel looked even more confused. "Rachel, I didn't send whatever text you think I sent. I gave Santana my phone to tell you to wait outside, so whatever she said, it was probably a joke and you shouldn't take it seriously. And on a further note, do you really think I'd say whatever she did?"

Rachel blushed, "I dunno..."

Quinn looked at the ground, "You don't trust me."

"No," the brunette agreed, then saw Quinn's look of shame and she desperately wanted to get rid of it, "but hey. " She put a finger under Quinn's chin, lifting it a little so she was looking her in the eye, "I'm getting there. I'm...sorry I doubted you."

The blonde let loose a tiny smile, "As long as there's _some_ progress. I really...I like you a lot, Rachel, and I don't want to mess up." She admitted, both hoping and not hoping Rachel understood the depth of her 'like'.

Rachel melted at Quinn's vulnerability, "Me, too."

They were interrupted by Santana slapping down two pairs of bowling shoes onto the table between them, "Gets em' on, bitches; you're wasting my time and wearing out my gag reflex." she turned on her heel and grabbed Brittany's hand, tossing over her shoulder, "Lane 26."

Both Quinn and Rachel rolled their eyes fondly but nevertheless hurried to put their shoes on. Quinn stood up, offering her hand to Rachel, who took it and hoisted herself up off the bench. She wrinkled her nose, "These shoes are so gross. I wonder how many feet have been in here..."

Quinn lightly jostled her with her shoulder, smiling, "You're cute, but get over it." She teased, grabbing a green ball off one of the racks, "Let's pick you out a ball. You want a specific color?"

"Gold!" Rachel beamed.

Quinn chuckled, "Of course. How about yellow?" She picked up an eight pound yellow ball off the rack and held it out to Rachel for inspection.

The brunette pursed her lips and tapped her chin and Quinn shook her head fondly, "It'll do." Rachel said finally, carefully taking the ball from Quinn's hands. They approached Santana and Brittany at their lane, who had already entered all the names.

"Hey, why do have to I go last?" Quinn said with mock outrage.

"Cause your dumb." Santana said simply. At Quinn's death glare she amended, "Whoa, down boy, I just wanted to spell 'berserk' with our letters." She pointed at the screen, "See? B-S-R-Q! I know I'm amazing, you don't have to say it."

Quinn patted the girl's shoulder, "You're effing epic, San."

"Fuck off." She pushed Quinn's hand off. "Brits, you gonna go, baby?"

Brittany nodded excitedly and grabbed her baby blue ball, bringing it up beside her head. With suprisingly precise movements, she surged forward and threw the ball down the lane, knovking down all ten pins. She turned around, grinning madly, "Yay!"

They all clapped for her as Santana got up and grabbed her ball.

"Black and cold," Quinn commented dryly, "just like your soul."

Santana shot her a look before launching the ball down the lane, getting down seven pins, and knocking the remaining ones over on her next throw. She walked back to the other three, "Your turn, _Rach_," she looked at Quinn and subtly motioned for her to get the fuck up.

As Rachel got up to take her turn, Quinn hurriedly got up as well, asking, "Have you ever bowled before, Rach?"

Rachel shook her head, "Well, actually, once with Finn. But I'm terrible."

Somehow, the fact that the only other time Rachel'd been bowling had been with Finn made Quinn even more determined to accomplish her list item. "Well...I could, uh, help you out, if you want." She offered.

The brunette nodded shyly. Quinn smiled assuringly and jerked her head toward the ball dispenser, "C'mon, shorty, grab your ball."

Rachel obeyed, then stood limp in front of the lane, "What now?"

Quinn licked her lips, _now or never,_ "Here..." She stepped forward so she was standing directly behind Rachel. She placed her right arm so it was laying along the back of Rachel's arm. _Hey, we're like, arm spooning,_ she thought with a chuckle. She spread her fingers over where Rachel had her fingers in the holes, and put her other hand on the girl's hip. Okay, so that one didn't actually serve a purpose, she just wanted her hands somewhere on the brunette. Quinn smiled when she felt Rachel tense slightly and heard her breath hitch.

She bent down a little to whisper in her ear, "So now, you just bring your arm up like...this," She nudged Rachel's arm until it was in the proper position, "and turn a little," she used the hand on Rachel's hip to turn her body, then cursed herself because the action resulted in Rachel's body pressed against her in all the right ways. But she had to keep going with her instruction or she'd seem like a perv. Even though she kind of was, and Rachel didn't seem to mind either way. "U-um, so you just, er, walk forward kind of um, fast and fling the ball down the lane." She cleared her throat; her voice had gone a little deeper than normal.

"So, um, yeah." Quinn finished, shaking her head and stepping away from Rachel.

"O-okay." Rachel said shakily, and then proceeded to do exact opposite of what Quinn said. She did a sort of jagged hobble as she approached the lane and threw the ball in the air . It made a blunt smacking noise when it hit the oiled floor of the lane and veered straight into the gutter. She turned around and walked back to the other three. "I need to use the bathroom." She said quickly.

"But, Rach, you have another turn!" Brittany called after her. She turned back around to face Quinn and Santana and frowned, "She has another turn."

"I don't think she cares right now, B." Santana comforted, then reached up for high five from Quinn, "Got her all hot and bothered, eh, Q? Niiiiice, see that's how you get shit done. Nevermind that she still failed big time." She smirked at Quinn, who was staring blankly into space. Santana snapped in front of her face, "Dude, your turn. We can skip the midget; somehow, I don't think she'll mind."

Quinn moved mechanically, looking unnervingly like a robot as she picked up her ball and threw it down the lane. She didn't even care that it didn't go two feet before slipping into the gutter. Hell, she didn't even care when she did it again. She was getting through to Rachel, and that was what mattered. She was on cloud-fucking-nine.

Back at the moniter, Brittany was sitting in Santana's lap. She leaned her head back to say, "San, what's wrong with Q?"

Santana, who had been watching her best friend with utter amusement, looked down at Brittany and smiled, "Nothing, B. Absolutely nothing," she shook her head, looking at then, Rachel returned looking decidedly less red and took her seat, discreetly fanning herself. As Santana looked at Rachel with something that looked suspiciously like affection, she added, "We just have the bestest friends, B."

Brittany beamed, looking something like the sun, "Yeah we do!"


	6. Casanova

**Italics are a flashback.**

Life was good for Santana Lopez; she had a hot girlfriend, her grades were satisfactory enough to keep her dad off her back, she had a beautiful girlfriend, she was steadily making her way back up the cheerleading pyramid since Quinn quit, and she had a _smoking_ girlfriend.

She smiled to herself as she spotted said girlfriend down the hall chatting with Chang-squared. She wrinkled her nose; nothing would ever convince her that it wasn't creepy that those two were dating and they had the same last name. Well, almost the same.

She began walking toward the trio when she was interrupted by a someone grabbing her arm and yanking her back. The force of the pull forced her to one-eighty right into the arms of Rachel Berry.

"Fuck! When did you get muscles, Yoda?" She bit out, scowling as she nursed her arm where the girl had grabbed her. She looked back at her, "You left fingerprints!"

Rachel smiled apologetically, "Sorry. I needed your attention; I have a...question." She bit her lip and made a subtle puppy-dog face that Santana was all too familiar with.

The taller girl held her gaze and narrowed her eyes at the diva, effectively starting an epic staredown. She would not give in.

The list of people on Earth whose pouty faces Santana could deny had always been fairly short- comprised of only Brittany S. Pierce. However, she'd be lying through her teeth if she said the girl before her wasn't slowly dissolving her ire with her wide, 'innocent' eyes and slightly puckered lips. With an exasperated huff, she shifted her weight and crossed her arms. Berry could never know just how effective her pout was.

"Alright, what is it?" Santana rolled her eyes as Rachel beamed in her delight at her success.

Then her face turned serious. "It's about Quinn."

This caught the Latina's attention. She quirked an eyebrow, "Oh?" Now was as good a time as any to see how well Quinn was doing in the wooing department. God knows her bowling skills made that last one an epic fail. Santana just hoped Rachel didn't now think Quinn was the biggest tool on the planet-purely for Quinn's sake; she personally didn't care either way, hell, in her eyes, the blonde _was_ the biggest tool on the planet- and was about to ask her how she could let the girl down gently.

Rachel nodded, "Yes. I think...I think I might, um, like her."

Santana contained her surprise quite well (she prided herself on her poker face). The only reaction she allowed through was a small smirk. If all it took was a couple weeks of kindness and subtle flirting were all it took to get Rachel Berry to fall for you, then god_damn_ the bitch was easy! She leaned onto the lockers to her right, "Oh really?" she drawled, eliciting a blush from the other girl. "You like Quinn. Quinn Fabray. Straight girl extraordinaire."

Okay, she'd admit she just _barely_ held in a gut-busting laugh at that one.

"I said _might_!" Rachel insisted, lightly stomping her heel. Her resistance was cute.

"Uh huh," Santana's smirk grew. "So, you like Quinn, big friggin' deal. Was that your 'question'?" She taunted, using air quotes.

"W-what, that's it? You're not going to make fun of me or-or tell me the odds of Finn attending Yale are greater than me and Quinn..you know?" Rachel stumbled.

She shrugged, teasing the other girl with a simple, "Nope."

Rachel failed miserably at containing _her_ surprise (she prided herself on her emotional honesty). "W-well, what do you think I should do, then?" She lowered her voice, as if anyone within a five foot radius would care who Rachel Berry was crushing on.

The bell rang as Santana opened her mouth to reply. Instead, she fondly patted Rachel on the head and offered the only advice she knew how to give, "Just grow some balls, R."

As she sauntered away, leaving the diva to stew over her sage words of wisdom, Santana chuckled to herself. She now knew the standpoint of all parties in this little situation. So Rachel was beginning to like Quinn back. Interesting. She tucked the knowledge away for the moment, deciding that it would be more fun to watch this play out...au naturale.

XXXXXXXXXX

After first period, Rachel finally got the chance to visit her locker. She'd been pre-occuppied in the morning talking to Santana about Quinn. She groaned. Quinn Fabray- she was, put simply, an enigma. When it came to her, Rachel was was absolutely flummoxed; if this was a boy, or even anyone else who was acting this way toward her , she would swear that they liked her, and it wasn't her ego talking.

But, as it was, it _was_ Quinn, she _was_ a straight girl extraordinaire, as Santana put it, and it probably _was_ Rachel's ego talking.

Her thoughts were interrupted when upon her locker door opening, a slip of paper and three flowers bundled together fell out. She frowned; she definitely didn't remember putting those in there. She bent down to retrieve the note and flowers. The diva smiled- Lilies were her favorite. She didn't remember ever telling anyone that, though.

Oh, scratch that, she recalled fleetingly mentioning it to Finn one day in glee when they were dating, hoping that he would get the hint that while she appreciated the thought behind the roses he brought her whenever they went out, she was allergic to them and had told him such on multiple occasions. But, she doubted these were from him, and she doubted even more that he'd even absorbed anything she said to him.

She placed the flowers delicately on top of her books and glanced around the semi-crowded hallway, trying to spot if anyone was watching her. She curiously fingered the corner of the note, which was folded in half. _Screw patience_, she thought, peeling the corner back and reading what was written on the orange stationery.

Normally, the little Jack O' Lanterns and ghosts on the corners of the page would be off-putting to Rachel, but her eyes were focused on the words and not on the fact that whoever left this for her apparently felt the need to buy special stationery for Halloween.

_"When the rain is blowing in your face,_

_And the whole world is on your case,_

_I could offer you a warm embrace,_

_To make you feel my love."_

XXXXXXXXXX

_**Earlier that day...**_

Quinn hopped out of her car, taking care not to drop the lilies in her hand or get chapstick on the paper she held between her lips. She nudged the door closed with her foot and hurried across the empty parking lot.

As she successfully popped open the locker (she prided herself on her handiness with a nail file), she breathed a sigh of relief that she'd correctly remembered which one was Rachel's. She'd gotten to school early so she'd have extra time to try different lockers incase she missed her mark, but that fear was quickly put to rest when she looked inside and found a mirror, a photobooth strip of Rachel and her fathers, and a ridiculously Rachel-esque to-do list neatly written on ridiculously bright gold stationary.

She quickly placed the note on top of the books and the flowers on top. She inhaled deeply as she shut the locker and leaned against it. She prayed that she'd gotten everything right; she spent a lot of time the day before trying to come up with the perfect words to write and the perfect flowers to leave...

_Ring, ring, ring._

_"Quinn?"_

_"Finn! I need your help. It's important." She heard a sigh from the other end._

_"Can't this wait, Quinn? I'm watching Manswers and-"_

_"No!" She silently counted to ten, willing herself not to snap at Finn; she needed him._

_"O-ok! Geez..."_

_"Well, you said you'd help me with Rachel any way you could, right? We're bros?"_

_"Um, yeah, I guess, what d'you need?"_

_"What's her favorite flower?" _

_"...Uh..."_

_Quinn threw her arms up in defeat. "Seriously, Finn? Did you ever even _get _her flowers?"_

_"Yeah!" He defended, "I got her roses on every date! I'm a gentleman." He sniffed._

_She rolled her eyes, "She's allergic to roses, genius. Ok, so nix the flower question, what about love songs? She ever mentioned her favorite song or poem or anything of that sort?"_

_"Oh , I know this one! She likes um...Funny Girl?..."_

_Quinn sighed, "Nevermind. Goodbye, Finn." She hung up before he responded._

_She huffed and leaned back on her bed, thudding her head repeatedly on the headboard. "I guess I'll just have to figure this out on my own, then." She racked her brain, desperately trying to recall any time Rachel spoke about flowers. _This is ridiculous_, she thought, grabbing the nearest item to chuck at the wall. _

_She just happened to pick up her copy of _Imagine Me & You_, and as she was preparing to hurl it into oblivion, her eye caught the lily that Luce was holding, and she remembered it clear as day: that one day in rehearsals back when Rachel and Finn were still going out. She remembered it because it was around the time she discovered her feelings for the brunette, and she had been rotating between staring angrily at the back of Rachel's head (for making her confused) and Finn's head (for dating the girl she liked). _

_Catching snippets of what Rachel was saying was kind of a side-effect of focusing her attention so intensely in their direction, "...lilies are my favorite...dates...are you listening?..."_

_Half an hour later found Quinn setting three lilies in a little vase until the next morning. She didn't want to get a dozen because well, can you say overkill, and she didn't want to get just one because a single flower just seemed too...Bachelorette._

_She sat down at her desk. Flowers, check. Now for the note..._

_At first, Quinn had toyed with the idea of writing a short little love poem of sorts herself, but after an hour of focused writing, everything she came up with went along the lines of_

_"Roses are red,_

_violets are blue,_

_I wanna take you_

_against the wall after school"_

_In the end, she decided to just write the lyrics of one of her favorite love songs that just so happened to fit the situation. She just hoped Rachel liked it too._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rachel stepped through the threshold of the choir room and bypassed her normal seat in the front to take a seat in the middle of the very back row. She needed a place where she could keep an eye on the rest of the club without arousing suspicion.

Throughout the day, she had found notes written on that same gaudy orange stationery tucked into her binders and folders, all with lyrics of that same song. She was impressed; whoever left them obviously put a considerable amount of thought into their execution- her favorite love song played out on the notes chronologically throughout her day.

In the folds of her second period binder she'd been surprised to find another set of lines from the song, but they had skipped some. Sure enough, when she checked her first period binder again, there were the missing lyrics. It had kept a perpetual smile on her face for the remainder of the day; every class she'd hurriedly sit down and dig through her notebook to find the next verse. It was all very mysterious.

She was clutching the lilies in her right hand, which she had resting under her chin. She was purposefully making the flowers obvious in the hopes that she could gauge each glee clubber's reaction to them as they came in the door. Perhaps, she thought, she could discover who this mysterious Casanova was.

Of course, she knew very well who she _hoped_ it was, but Rachel tended to avoid assumptions- "When you assume, you make an A-S-S out of U and M-E" - as her fathers had always taught her. Maybe it was Quinn, maybe it wasn't.

Her plan miscarried, however, when she failed to get any sort of unusual reaction out of the other members. Most of them didn't even comment on them, simply throwing her a "Hey, Rach." Mercedes had asked where she got flowers from, thus making it unlikely that she had left them; it was okay, though, Mercedes wasn't exactly the first person she'd believe would do something like this, and hello, the girl was straighter than Quinn.

Rachel straightened up in her seat when Quinn walked in, looking angelic as always. She nervously shifted in her seat as she slyly watched the girl with her peripheral vision and waited for her to sit down. Unsurprisingly, she took the seat on Rachel's left and immediately turned to greet her.

"Hey, Rachel." She said cheerily. Rachel internally drooped when Quinn's eyes didn't even flicker to the flowers she held in her hand.

She cleared her throat, "Good afternoon, Quinn, how was your day?"

The blonde smiled warmly-well, as warmly as Quinn-Fabray-at-school could, "Great, and yours?"

Rachel nodded shortly, "Likewise."

"Great, great," Quinn trailed off before scooting her seat closer to Rachel's, "So listen, there's this Art and Music festival going on a week from now at the fairgrounds, and I was wondering if you, you know, wanted to go with me."

Rachel wanted to say yes- make no mistake, she did. But Quinn was too close; she was leaning in and Rachel could smell her the sour apple gum Quinn was always chewing, it was hypnotizing. Quinn, however, took her silence as hesitation, and her smile fell almost imperceptibly, but Rachel- being the most perceptive person she knew- noticed anyway.

"I mean, it'll be- there's going to be live music spanning several different genres, food, fun, art exhibits showcasing a multitude of artistic mediums..."

Rachel's mouth quirked into a smile; Quinn sounded like she memorized the brochure. She put her hand on the blonde's arm, "Quinn, relax, it sounds wonderful. When did you say it was?"

At Rachel's acceptance, Quinn visibly relaxed, "Next Friday at-"

"Rachel, Quinn, if you'd like to pay attention, Tina has a number she's prepared for us." Mr. Schue's passive-aggresively threatening tone interrupted Quinn's reply.

"Rude," Santana remarked, inspecting her nails before pulling out her phone and busying herself with a text. Nobody failed to see the irony. Except for Artie, who was failing at seeing anything at all because he dropped his glasses in the hall earlier and subsequently rolled over the frame as he was trying to find them.

Quinn threw her a dirty look, and Rachel hastened to divert the attention away from her and Quinn, "We're sorry, Mr. Shcuester, Tina. We didn't realize practice had begun."

"That's fine, Rachel. Perhaps you'd like to share with us what was so important that it couldn't wait until after?"

God, Rachel hated it when Mr. Schue tried to act like a real teacher.

"Um..."

"Yeah," Puck cut in, "I'd like to know what's got you two all cuddled up in the corner." He smirked.

Murmurs of agreement floated through the room. Quinn was internally debating, to lie or not to lie? She didn't really want anyone to know of their plans, _especially_ if they wanted to-

"Q-Quinn was just telling me about a Music and Art festival she wanted to attend together, Mr. Schue."

"That sounds fun," Sam commented. Quinn silently shot daggers at his turned head.

Once again, the glee clubbers all chorused their agreement.

"I have a great idea-" Finn exclaimed.

"No, you don't, FInn." Quinn bit out in a low voice, a death threat left unspoken.

"-Why don't we _all_ go?" He continued on cheerily. "It could be a, what do you call them, Mr. Schue? A-A team, um, team-"

"Team bonding experience! Excellent idea, Finn!" Mr. Schue beamed at his protege. He looked around the room, "Are you all in agreement, then?"

Ten "Yes!"s rang out, followed by an "I guess..." and a "Hell no!" that were both ignored.

Mr. Schue clapped his hands together, "Wonderful! When is it, Quinn?"

He held Quinn's hostile gaze with a jolly grin of his own and she grudgingly answered, "Next Friday."

"Great! Hear that guys? Mark your calendars! I'd go with you, but I think it'd be-"

"Extremely creepy?" Kurt finished, and Mr. Schue tilted his head and furrowed his brow.

"Not really what I was going to say, but...I suppose." He said. "Alright guys," he glanced at his watch, "I just remembered I have to be somewhere in a few minutes, so we're going to cut this practice short, but rest up and be ready because tomorrow we are gonna buckle _down_."

He began to retrieve his briefcase from on top of the piano when Tina, who was still standing center stage, raised her hand, "But Mr. Schue, what about-"

He turned around smiled apologetically, "Sorry, Tina."

**List Items:**

**3. Spontaneous notes**

**4. Flowers**

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Sorry this took so long, I was lazy. On the bright side, I have every chapter of this story, scene by scene, planned out! There will be fifteen chapters total. In the end, I only came up with 18 items for the list;if you'd like to suggest something, I'll try and fit it in or maybe add a chapter if your idea merits it.**


	7. This is the Camera that Rach Built

Quinn had taken the oppurtunity to spend Friday night at Rachel's after her festival plans had been foiled by the glee club (damn them). She wanted to fit in as much alone time with Rachel as she could because god knew when they'd get it next.

She thanked the heavens Rachel's dads both arrived home after they'd gone to bed and left for work before they got up; it wasn't that she was _reluctant_ to meet Rachel's parents, she was just...reluctant to meet Rachel's parents.

Quinn never had much luck with meeting parents; she always made a right fool of herself. Not to mention, she didn't exactly have the best track record with her _own_ parents, how was she not going to fret a little at the prospect of meeting _Rachel's_? Yeah, she'd avoid that for the time being.

"So Quinn," Rachel began as she descended the stairs, Quinn following close behind her, "You _are_ going to make me your orgasmic pancakes for breakfast, right?"

Quinn choked out a laugh at the brunette's choice of adjectives, "I suppose I could." It never failed to amuse her how Rachel worshipped her cooking; really- it was pancake mix. Part of her wondered if Rachel was just looking for an excuse to torture her with the noises she made whenever she ate anything Quinn made.

They entered the kitchen and Rachel grabbed two water bottles of the fridge, handing one to Quinn. "Allow me to briefly acquaint you with my kitchen."

"Of course."

The brunette leaned against the granite-top island and pointed a finger at the fridge, "There's where most of the food is. Everything else is in the pantry over there."

"Uh-huh."

"This here is the island."

"Oh, really?" Quinn asked, sarcasm coloring her tone.

Rachel shot her a glare, then gestured to a cabinet above the stove, "Spices are up there, pots and pans are under there, utensils are in the drawer to the left of the sink, and every culinary tool you could think of is in that drawer right over there. Have fun," she patted Quinn's arm and moved to sit at the small table in the kitchen.

Quinn scoffed, "I am not your slave."

"Mmhmm," Rachel took a sip of her water as Quinn got started on the pancakes, "So what would you like to do today? That is, assuming you're going to be here. With me. Unless- Unless you had other plans, in which case I apologize for being so presumptuous."

_Ahh, finally_, Quinn thought. She pulled out a pan from the cabinet Rachel mentioned and set it on the stove, turning on the heat. "Well, for one thing, I am planning on spending the day with you," She rolled her eyes like it should've been obvious, "and as for what we'll do today...I may have had some plans for you," she finished coyly.

When she didn't elaborate any further, Rachel raised a brow, "Oooookay, well are you planning on sharing with the class?"

Quinn smirked and eyed Rachel, "How good are you with your hands?" _Whoa, my voice was _not _that low a second ago._

The other girl's eyes went wide and she choked a little on her water. "U-uh..." Rachel fumbled for a response; how was her mind _not_ going to take that as a dirty question?

Quinn blanched as she realized what her question must have sounded like. God, she was an idiot! _Way to go, Quinn, you really have a way with words_, she thought dryly. She turned back to the stove and leaned forward on her hands. She didn't notice, however, that she'd put her right hand on the heated stovetop. "Shit!" she yelped, ripping her hand away from the stove like she'd been- well, she _had_ been burned.

Rachel was there in a second with an ice pack, "Are you okay, Quinn?" She sounded frazzled and her movements were jerky. "Here!" She shoved the ice pack onto the burned area of Quinn's hand.

Quinn howled at the sudden cold and Rachel panicked, "What! Did I do something wrong? Here, let me get the first aid kit!" She rushed to the pantry and grabbed the small white box, fumbling with the latch to open it.

Quinn held up her unscathed hand to stop her, "Rachel, unhand the first aid kit."

Rachel looked crestfallen as she set the box on the counter behind her, "But your hand-"

"Rachel! It is _just_ a burn. It won't even hurt in fifteen minutes. Calm your tits." Quinn snapped, then cursed herself when her eyes (of their own accord!) flitted down to Rachel's chest at the mention. She shouldn't have even said that in the first place- can you say _lame_?

Rachel looked offended, "I was only trying to help." She marched back to the table and whipped her chair out, an action that lost some of its drama when she pulled it out with such force and speed it hit her legs and made her stumble. She regained her balance and plopped down in the chair, pointedly looking out the window.

Quinn rolled her eyes. She stood and continued on with breakfast, knowing that talking to Rachel right now would yield nothing.

"Breakfast is served," she flourished her hand, set down a short stack in front of Rachel, and sat down with her own plate.

Rachel eyed the pancakes, then met Quinn's eyes with an apology, "I'm sorry for freaking out. Is...your hand okay?"

Quinn, who already had food in her mouth, said through her chewing "Nothing to apologize for, babe." She paused, then sighed, "And I'm- I shouldn't have snapped; you _were_ only trying to help."

The brunette's heart sped up a little at the nickname, but she maintained an air of nonchalance as she cut into her breakfast. "Right, so now that's out of the way...what was your idea? You never did get to say."

Quinn's eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! So get this; I've had this 'Build a Camera' kit lying around forever," Lie, she bought it online a few days ago for this sole purpose, "and I figured we could pick it up from my house, along with a few other supplies, and try to build it today."

Rachel frowned, "Build a...camera?"

Quinn wanted to laugh at the look on Rachel's face ; combined with the food stuffed in her cheeks, she looked like a confused chipmunk. "Yeah. It's not like, a digital camera or anything fancy. It's called a pinhole camera. It'll be fun!" She coaxed, "We have all day, right? I mean, you don't have any dance lessons or whatever?"

Rachel shook her head, "No, but I do have to fit in my daily hour of voice practice. That can wait until later, though, I suppose. And alright...we can try, but know that I'm still dubious," she said with her fork pointed at Quinn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Rach, I'm looking at the diagram right now. It says here, plain as day-"

"No, Quinn! This screw goes in _that_ hole! _I_ know, _I_ read the directions! See, this is 'Hole F'" Rachel looked crazed as she jabbed her finger at the camera, "and the instructions clearly say that you insert the smaller screw in-"

"Hole J?" Quinn had the instructions held up over her mouth, her eyebrows raised and her mouth contorted into a triumphant smirk. They were working on the island in the kitchen, as it presented them with the most workspace. Rachel was bent over the camera-in-progress and Quinn was casually leaning against the island, enjoying the view of Rachel's legs in her booty shorts.

Rachel turned to face Quinn, who quickly diverted her gaze to the oh-so-fascinating ceiling, trying to look as innocent as possible. The brunette narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to read the diagram on the paper. Quinn watched with amusement as Rachel's eyes traced the paper. She could pinpoint the exact moment Rachel realized she was wrong; her expression immediately shifted from defiant to indignant.

She said nothing and turned back to the camera, placing the smaller screw in Hole J. Rachel had insisted that she do all the tedious handwork because Quinn's hand was 'injured' and Quinn could be in charge of reading her the instructions. The blonde had rolled her eyes but agreed nonetheless.

She looked on as Rachel tried and failed over and over to insert a screw in the right place. The blonde chuckled as she stomped her foot and let out a frustrated, "Ugh!"

Quinn stepped forward and plucked the screwdriver from Rachel's hands. She silenced the other girl's protests with a soft, "Patience is a virtue, Rachel." She proceeded to smoothly complete the step the brunette had been struggling with for the past five minutes. She arrogantly raised her brow at Rachel.

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms, "I loosened it for you," she grumbled.

Quinn decided not to point out that that made absolutely no sense. She settled for a "Sure," and slapped Rachel's butt playfully, "Now get back to work." She snickered, earning another death-stare from the girl.

After a few minutes of silent work, Rachel asked, "How many steps are left?"

Quinn bit her lip and resisted her intense urge to laugh. Hey, it was Rachel's idea to do all the work, "Fourteen." She said carefully, observing the diva's reaction.

"Outstanding," Rachel muttered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Yes!_" Rachel exclaimed, "We did it!" She had the hugest grin plastered on her face and was bouncing on her toes. She turned excitedly to Quinn, brandishing the finished camera.

Quinn's lips quirked, "_You_ did it," she poked the tip of Rachel's nose,"_I_ just got free entertainment."

Rachel pouted, "I wasn't that bad."

Quinn didn't answer, just took the camera from Rachel, turning it over and examining it. She finally looked up and smiled, "I approve." She raised the camera, pointing it at Rachel and quickly peeled back the tape they'd placed over the pinhole. "Perfect," she grinned as she lowered it.

Rachel frowned, "What?"

"I just took a picture of you."

"No way!" Rachel breathed, "That's how it works?"

Quinn chuckled and grabbed the girls hand, "Come on, I brought the stuff we need to make your bathroom into a darkroom, let's take this baby for a spin." She said excitedly as she dragged Rachel out of the kitchen.

Both girls found themselves having more fun than they could remember having in forever as they brought along film paper and the camera and spent the next three hours walking around town, snapping pictures of gnarled, ancient-looking trees, people, really just anything that caught their eye. While Quinn took most of the, Rachel got her choice few in, even snapping a couple of Quinn as she was sizing up a street sign on the corner of Rachel's street, trying to determine the best angle to take the photo from.

"Are you hungry?" Rachel inquired as they linked arms and began the trek back to her house.

Quinn blushed when her stomach answered for her, "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Rachel shrugged, not bothering to pull out her phone and check. Quinn didn't either; the only time she cared about was the time of her life she was having hanging out with Rachel. Seriously, how did she ever hate this girl? "We can order pizza when we get home, I know a place that has vegan options." She offered.

"Sure," Quinn yawned. She withdrew her arm from the brunette's and wrapped it instead around the girl's shoulders, leaning her head against the top of Rachel's. Rachel sighed contentedly into Quinn as they walked in comfortable silence.

"Are you excited for the festival next week?"

Quinn mentally cursed Finn for the billionth time, "Yeah I guess." She conceded.

Rachel frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing-it's stupid."

"Tell meeee," Rachel whined, nudging her elbow into Quinn's side.

"No."

"Please?" This time, Rachel picked up her head and punctuated her question with a poke to Quinn's cheek. She internally pondered when the hell she got comfortable enough with _Quinn Fabray _to poke her face and not worry about getting slugged.

The blonde sighed, "Okay...but don't laugh." Rachel nodded vigorously. "I wanted to be there with just ...you" She admitted softly, not meeting Rachel's eye.

Rachel looked up at her in words '_Like a date?' _ were burning her throat, begging to be asked. She bit her tongue, not wanting to ruin this perfect day with questions leading into uncertain territory. Instead she smiled and lay her head back onto the blonde's shoulder, leaving Quinn's last words to wash over the both of them. She hoped her silence conveyed the right message- "Me, too."

When they walked in the house, Rachel immediately stole to the kitchen to call the pizza place, and Quinn followed suit.

"...yes, that's correct. Third house on the right. Rachel Berry...why, yes, thank you! Alrighty, one hour it is!" Rachel hung up the phone and beamed.

Quinn pretended to shield her eyes, "What's got _you_ smiling, huh?"

"The delivery boy recognized my name from Regionals! He said I have an amazing voice," she gushed, _clearly_ deliriously elated at the compliment.

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Please, I could name a _hundred_ other things about you that amaze me." She didn't like the way that 'boy' had Rachel smiling.

Rachel's smile morphed into a playfully teasing...smirk? Since when did Rachel know how to smirk? "Oh really,Quinn? Care to divulge?"

Quinn gulped, "No..." Rachel's face dropped, "I have to pee!" Quinn yelled, then winced at the volume of her voice. Rachel's confusion grew as Quinn made no move toward the bathroom, despite bellowing moments before that she needed to use it.

_Goddamnit, get it together Quinn!_

She straightened her posture and looked Rachel in the eye, "But I'll make you a list sometime."

She grinned in triumph when she caught the tail end of Rachel's face-splitting smile as she whisked out of the kitchen to the restroom. _Take that, delivery bitch, I can make her swoon, too._

When she exited the bathroom, she heard something that sounded like music. She followed the sound to a room at the end of the hallway. When she gently nudged the door open, she was greeted with the sight of Rachel sitting at a piano, focused intensely on the keys as she played a melody Quinn didn't recognize. She was about to make her presence known when Rachel began to sing.

God, there was nothing quite like watching Rachel sing. She stood there, leaning against the doorframe, when the idea hit her. She quietly slipped away and returned with the camera they made, hoping Rachel was still in the middle of her song. Quinn coaxed the door forward a bit more and tiptoed into the room. Rachel had her eyes closed as Quinn kneeled down and found the perfect angle to capture Rachel. She sat with the camera poised and ready, waiting for the right moment.

It came in the form of the song's big note. Rachel was pounding furiously on the keys, her brow furrowed in concentration and her face beautifully contorted into what Quinn though to be the manifestation of beauty and passion. She wasted no time in capturing Rachel in the midst of her note, her head tilted back and her fingers poised over the piano.

Quinn crept back toward the door as the song wound down. She slipped into the hallway as the song finished, going to stow the camera in Rachel's room. As she set it down, she grinned to herself. "Boy, do I have _plans_ for you." She whispered, then made her way back to the piano room, knocking on the frame as she walked in.

Rachel looked up from her sheet music and smiled, "Hey."

Quinn opened her mouth to tell Rachel how magnificent she was, but was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Rachel perked up, "Oh! That must be Chase!" She jumped up and grabbed the twenty resting on top of the piano, going to get the door. Quinn growled, so now he had a _name_?

She put on her most well-meaning smile and grabbed Rachel's wrist, tugging the bill out of her hand. "Don't worry about it, Rach, I'll get it. You relax."

Rachel looked confused, but agreed nonetheless, "Okay," she sat back down and slowly continued to rifle through her sheet music.

Quinn took her time going down the stairs. As she opened the door, she was met with a boy around their age. He had bright green eyes that were spotted with gray, and short black hair. She supposed he had a 'charming' smile, and from what she could tell he had quite the body.

_Nothing to swoon over_, she internally sneered.

She patted herself on the back for not letting Rachel answer the door. The boy's smile dampened when he saw she wasn't Rachel. She smiled as sweetly as she could when she really wanted to punch his lights out,

"Hello, _Chase_."

**Sorry for the crap ending. Next chapter will be the festival! I'm trying to write ahead as much as I can for this story so I don't make you guys wait as much as I have. I do have a VERY important request though: if anybody knows some really good pick up lines, please please **_**please**_** do share, I'll need lots of them for a later chapter ;) And google, while a very trusted source for lots of things, does not exactly provide the best material in this regard. Thank you!**


	8. You're Mine

It was Friday afternoon, a time that was normally regarded by most teenagers as holy: the start of the weekend. A symbol of freedom, however temporary it may be. Now, if all had gone according to plan, or alternatively, had Finn Hudson never been born, Quinn Fabray would be sharing in these sentiments whole-heartedly.

However, as it was, her plan had been monstrously derailed, Carole Hudson had indeed birthed an ogre, and she was not.

Make no mistake, Quinn loved the glee club- sort of, kind of- not really. But _boy_ had she wanted to unleash her inner Rancor at last Thursday's rehearsals. Her anger was somewhat alleviated by the following night and day she'd spent with Rachel, and now with the few minutes she'd have with the girl in her car on the way to the festival. She was getting to Rachel- she caught the (yearning?) glances the girl threw her way when she thought Quinn wasn't looking. And Santana- Santana knew something; Quinn could smell it. She didn't particularly care, though. All she knew was that she needed to do just a few more of those list items and Rachel would be hers- she could see the brunette's resolve cracking.

The glee club, being the spectacular planners that they were, had spent the hour rehearsal they had today arranging transportation to the festival. Every suggestion someone had of anyone other than Rachel Berry riding in Quinn's car had been promptly vetoed by the blonde. If it had raised anyone's suspicions, they didn't show it- actually, in retrospect, they'd seemed a little _too_ accomodating to her demands. A little _too _patronising with their 'Sure, Quinn's and 'Whatever you say, Quinn's.

_God, do they- do they know?_

"Hi," Rachel smiled lightly as she stepped into Quinn's car, breaking Quinn out of her sudden and silent panic.

She made a half-attempt at a genuine smile, "Hey, ready to go?"

Rachel gave her a look as if to say 'Duh?'.

Quinn mentally face-palmed, "Sorry, that was-let's go." She shifted gears and began backing out of Rachel's driveway.

Rachel's lips quirked, "You drive stick?"

Quinn hesitated in her answer. When she'd turned fifteen and her dad was teaching her how to drive, he'd insisted that she learn to operate a car with both stick shift and automatic. She suspected it was just so he could rub it in to other parents- you know the whole 'My daughter is better than your daughter' game. She'd never thought twice about it.

"Uh, yes?" Quinn answered tentatively, "Why?"

The brunette smirked and leaned back into her seat, "That's hot."

_Point, Dad._

A soft "Oh..." seemed to be all Quinn could manage to respond with. She swallowed and reached forward to turn on her radio, cringing when an abrasive hip hop beat blasted through her speakers from a CD, accompanied by the rhymes of an an angry Tupac Shakur

"_I ain't goin' down, fuck the world I'm a thug_-"

She quickly switched it off again, chancing a glance at the girl beside her.

She just looked amused.

"I..." Quinn started, fumbling for an explanation, "Tupac- Tupac is cool." She shrugged sheepishly and leaned forward, switching to the classic rock station. _Classic rock is good,_she thought,_ classic rock is safe._

She turned back to the road, avoiding Rachel's eyes.

"_Bitches don't wanna see me leave, forever thuggin"_

Quinn whipped her head around to see Rachel's hand retreating from the dial and her twinkling eyes meeting Quinn's. She smiled briefly at the blonde before turning her eyes to the road, motioning for Quinn to do the same.

There was a beat of silence in which Quinn attempted to come up with something she could say to prompt conversation when-

"Tupac _is_ cool."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rachel huffed, "They're late!" She crossed her arms and stared hard at the picnic table she and Quinn were seated at.

Quinn sighed from her spot on Rachel's right, her head propped up with her right hand. "I know, Rach. No need to say it over and over." She stuck her free hand into the popcorn bucket they'd purchased on arrival, grabbing a handful and stuffing it in her mouth. She chewed slowly before grabbing another handful and offering it to Rachel, hoping to placate the steaming diva with copious amounts of artificial butter.

Rachel wavered from her staring match with the table to glance at the proffered snack. She sniffed the air once before her hand shot out and angrily snatched the popcorn from the blonde's hand and shoved it in her mouth with all the force of an angry midget.

_She might as well have just hit me_, Quinn mused, peering down at the popcorn that now littered the ground, taking residence next to candy wrappers and empty soda cans. _She got more on the ground than in her mouth._

She watched as Rachel chomped on her popcorn with a perpetual scowl. "It smells like puke here."

"You smell like puke." She half-heartedly replied. Quinn was tired of waiting. She was itching to show Rachel her surprise and here they were, stuck at a picnic table near the row of garbage cans where she was sure everybody came to throw up the contents of their stomachs after ten too many beers. And all Rachel could do was gripe.

"They're _late_!" Rachel repeated furiously.

"You're turning purple." Quinn pointed out.

"Disgraceful-"

"It's a bit unflattering."

"miscreants-"

"Rach-"

"This is ridiculous-"

Quinn threw her hands in the air and cut the brunette off, "_Why_ don't you text them, then!"

Rachel looked initially shocked at her rant being cut short, but her scowl was quickly revamped as she narrowed her eyes. "Why don't _you _text them?" She accentuated with a (painful) poke to Quinn's shoulder.

"I'm tired." Quinn grumbled.

"How can you be _tired_? All we've done is sit here."

"Yeah, and I've been listening to you _complain _for the last half-hour." Quinn shot back heatedly.

As the brunette geared herself to argue (and _boy_, would she argue) her phone rang.

Thankful for the distraction, she hastily pulled out her phone and answered, "Rachel Berry speaking?" She greeted in a eerily accurate customer-service-esque tone.

Quinn rolled her eyes, somewhat fondly, at the way Rachel answered her calls, not to mention the fact that she'd switched gears from hot-headed and armed for debate to polite and pleasant in the span of about a second.

"What!"

She perked up at the anger seeping back, quirking a curious eyebrow at the girl.

"You-we've-idiot-" Rachel spluttered, rapidly turning purple _again_. Quinn placed a hand on her arm, mouthing 'Breeeeeeeaaaathe' and using helpful accompanying gestures, just incase Rachel had, you know, forgotten how to. "We'll be right there." The brunette managed to push out. She hit end and turned to Quinn, their argument completely forgotten in favor of her fresh bout of ire.

"They changed the meet up point and _conveniently_ forgot to tell us." She explained.

Quinn's brow furrowed; that didn't sound like something the glee club would do. "What?"

Rachel huffed and grabbed her hand dragging her off, heading toward what she brilliantly deduced was the other entrance.

"Fiin Hudson!" Rachel screeched upon their arrival at the table the rest of the club was gathered at.

Everyone turned and Finn flinched, "Rach, I-"

His excuse was promptly severed as Rachel began her beration. Finn's eyes widened at the words leaving Rachel's mouth, and the other nine looked to Quinn to shut her up. She sighed and surveyed the area, looking for something she could use to calm Rachel down.

_What to do, what to do._

She spotted a craft booth.

_Buy her a bear?_

_Nah, not enough time to pick out the perfect one._

_Perhaps a handmade Rasta wig from that booth over there?_

She eyed the man leaning back in his chair behind the table he'd set up. He was- put simply- the epitome of creepy, complete with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and an accompanying leer aimed at anything female that happened to pass by.

_How about no._

_Where did he even _get _those wigs? And why is _he _selling them? He looks more like a hobo than a Rastafarian._

It was then that she caught sight of a nice enough looking old woman selling flowers. She glanced at the club, at Rachel still ripping Finn a new one, and then at the booth.

"Hi, do you have any lilies?"

The woman smiled and reached down to pull a white lily from- where?

"How many, dear?" She asked. "I can press the petals onto a card, if you'd like. It's my specialty."

Quinn shook her head," No thank you," she declined politely, "Just the one, please."

The woman nodded, "Are you sure?"

"Yes ma'am. It's for.." Should she say it? This _was_ Lima. _Whatever._ "It's for her," she pointed behind her at Rachel, who had moved on to the rest of the glee clubbers, "My...my girlfriend." She tacked on, if onlyfor the experience of saying it out loud. Damn, If it felt this good now, she could only imagine how euphoric it would be when she could tell someone that and it actually be _true_.

To her surprise, the lady just smiled again and offered her the flower, "It's on me, then, dear."

Quinn decided not to question it. She thanked the woman and began walking back to the group, gathering the nerve to do what she was about to do.

She approached Rachel from behind and waited for a break in the rant.

After thirty seconds, she realised that she'd be waiting forever. When Rachel put her hands on her hips, Quinn steeled herself. Rachel would either think this was cute or creepy. She hoped it was the former. She carefully slipped her arms between Rachel's and her body. She felt the girl jump at the contact, then relax into her when she realized who it was. Wrapping one arm gently around Rachel's waist, Quinn held the flower in front of her with the other, resting her chin on the shorter girl's shoulder. "I got this for you." She murmured in her ear.

Rachel was silent as she turned her head to look at Quinn. Her eyes were searching, "Thank you..." She breathed.

She was so, so close.

But this was not the time nor place. Quinn cleared her throat and awkwardly patted Rachel's stomach as she pulled out of the embrace. "You're welcome." She said, awkwardly patting Rachel's stomach as she pulled out of the embrace. She turned to address the club, pointing her index finger at them.

"And so are you all."

Rachel frowned, "For what?"

"Nothing!" Finn interjected, then turned to Quinn, "Quinn, can I talk to you?"

The blonde crossed her arms and waited expectantly.

"...Over there?"

He led her away from the table, "Before you get mad, I'm sorry."

Quinn arched an eyebrow, "What?"

Finn rubbed his neck, "You were gonna do it today, weren't you? Here at the festival?"

She nodded, hoping they were talking about the same thing.

"Damn, Then-then I'm _super_-sorry. I- I didn't think about it when I mentioned it in glee."

"Finn, it's fine-"

"And about the waiting, too. I...well, I realized what I did so, I texted everyone to meet at a different place and thought we could just meet you and Rach later so you could, you know..." He coughed, "'Cause we're bros, and I wanted to help. I mean, we _are_ still bros, right? It's easier to stop myself from wanting Rach when I think of you like that because, I'm sure you know the bro code."

Quinn's other eyebrow joined its counterpart, "Oh _really_?"

Finn's eyes widened. "No! I didn't mean that I want- remember the code, Quinn, remember the code!"

She couldn't help but burst out laughing. Clapping Finn's bicep through her giggles, Quinn made her way back to the table where most of the others were already gone.

"Where'd everyone go?"

"Oh, we all agreed to meet at the stage in a while to get good seats for the musical acts. I want to buy a Rasta wig!" Brittany chirped.

Santana put a hand on her shoulder, "I don't think that's the best idea, B," she said, her eyes trained on the suspicious booth.

Quinn chuckled, "How long do we have, then?"

"About an hour and a half." Santana answered.

"Oooookay, gotta go. C'mon Rachel. See you guys later." Quinn pulled the brunette up from the bench and lead her away.

"Where are we going, Quinn?"

"Just...around."

This answer seemed to satisfy Rachel, and they spent the next hour exploring the booths and displays. Rachel, having never been to an art festival before, took every oppurtunity to touch everything in sight. She was fascinated by the array of media there, asking endless questions. Quinn, who had been coming to this festival for a few years, happily indulged Rachel's insatiable curiosity. And when she couldn't answer, the brunette would simply ask everyone around her until she found someone that could.

When Quinn noticed their time until they were to regroup was running thin, she took action.

"Hey, let's visit the photography section, Rach." She nudged the girl, who was busy inspecting a wooden giraffe, with her elbow.

Rachel's eyes lit up, "Oh, yes! I must say, Quinn, my appreciation for the art of photography has increased tremendously since we made that camera. It really made me think about all of the work and care that goes into one picture." She chatted as they made their way over.

There were a multitude of displays, all set up on canvases or on tables in intricate frames. "Oh! How _beautiful_!" Rachel gushed, pointing to a scenic shot of the highway leading out of Lima.

_Someday..._

Quinn stood by and smiled as Rachel lead her along the aisles, pointing out all the pictures she liked. As they approached the back row, the blonde felt the ticklings of nervousness.

"Ooh, look at this one, Quinn!" Rachel squealed, grabbing her hand and bringing them to a simple shot of an ancient-looking oak tree on a street corner. "This one's my favorite." SHe stated, turning to beam at the blonde.

"It's pretty," Quinn agreed, biting her lip to hide her smile.

They strolled along the row of pictures, and Rachel couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen all these before- which was wierd, since she was pretty sure all the pictures she'd ever seen in her life had been digital.

"Wanna see _my_ favorite?" Quinn asked, squeezing the girl's hand and looking at her.

Rachel did a little jump, "Yes!"

The cheerleader chuckled, "Ok, ok, calm down. It's over here..." She walked them to the middle of the last row, "There." She pointed to a picture and waited for it to hit Rachel.

She heard a small gasp- _Bingo._

Rachel turned to her with wide, stunned eyes, "Is that...?"

Quinn kept her eyes trained almost reverantly on the photo displayed before them. "Mmhmm." She murmured, taking in the black and white image of the very girl standing beside her seated at the piano, belting her heart out.

The blonde turned to Rachel, "I...hope you don't mind that I used your picture without permission...I wanted it to be a surprise..." She edged out.

Rachel laughed and wiped at her eye, "Mind? Quinn, I don't know what- this is- I-so wonderful-" She launched herself at the girl, wrapping her arms around Quinn's neck and squeezing the life out of her. "It looks amazing. You're amazing." She mumbled into her neck.

Quinn blushed, "Yeah...don't get snot on me," she scolded as Rachel tried to sneakily wipe her nose on the blonde's sleeve.

Laughing, Rachel broke away. "So the others..." she gestured to the row in front of them, and Quinn nodded.

"I submit a few photos to this festival every year. So, I used some of the ones we took last week, if that's okay." She side-glanced at the shorter girl, who nodded. "And can I just say that I find it hilarious your favorite is the one that _you_ took." She teased, nudging her.

Rachel giggled, "When did you take _that_, though?" She pointed to the one they were standing in front of, "I don't even remember you having the camera when you came in."

Quinn shrugged, "I may have heard you playing when I got out of the bathroom, so I went to see what all the ruckus was, and there you were. You were just sitting there, alone, honest and raw, so..." She trailed off. She cleared her throat, "Anyway, I went back to grab the camera and used my super-stealth ninja moves to capture you in that moment." Rachel was looking at her like she just introduced her to Barba Streisand. "And, I may have stepped on a tack on my way out, so that was painful." Rachel laughed."But it was worth it." She finished, turning back to the picture.

The brunette couldn't help but reach up and turn Quinn's head to her. She kept her hand on the girl's cheek and slowly edged forward, her eyes settling on her destination.

_Holy shit, is this happening?_ Quinn thought._ Is she?..._

Rachel was but a few inches away at this point, going ever so slowly. She began to extend on her tip-toes...

_She is! Oh my god, I had a hot dog earlier, I need a mint! I NEED A MINT! My breath probably smells like a pig, and oh god she's vegan. I taste like a pig! Like a dead, processed, condiment-laden swine! Oh Jesus..._

One...more...inch...

"Quinn! Rachel! Where have you _been_?"

Quinn jumped three feet in the air, and Rachel sighed, slumping her shoulders.

"Mike! What are you doing here?" Quinn edged out through gritted teeth. Of course,there would be an interruption. And Mike-freaking-Chang, at that. How could she yell at Mike for _anything_?

The boy jogged up to them, "We've been trying to get a hold of you two, the show started fifteen minutes ago." He puffed, glancing betwen the pair. "You weren't..." he asked uncertainly, shifting his eyes, "Did I inter-"

"Nope! No sirree, not at all." Quinn cut him off with all the false cheer of a mall-bound Santa Claus, but added in a short, potent death glare to be sure he got the message. "Come on, Rach." She started off the way they came, Mike following behind.

"Sorry..." He muttered to no one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They arrived back at the amphitheatre in the middle of a set. There was a rock band up on stage, blasting out distorted guitar riffs and hard, merciless drum beats.

They found the glee club easily enough- they were currently all headbanging...in sync. As they approached the group, the song finished up and they all laughed, then noticed the trio.

"Hey, where were you two?" Sam asked, out of breath from dancing.

"They were over in photography." Mike answered.

"Photography, eh? Me and Britts saw some pretty _interesting_ pictures over there earlier." Santana cut in.

"Who cares?" That would be Puck, "Next act is coming up." He glanced down at his flyer, "They're reggae. Nice."

"Don't they have a DJ in between sets while they get ready?" Tina asked the group.

"I do believe so, dear Tina," Kurt said, his smile growing.

They all looked at each other.

Santana grinned, "Know what that means?"

As the words left her mouth, a thundering beat exploded from the enourmous speakers set up along the stage.

"The bass is reverberating through my friggin' _soul_!" The Latina yelled at them over the music. She was met with cheers all around when she began crumping in the middle of the group. They all formed a circle and whooped, only growing louder and more raucous when Rachel jumped out and joined her. Everyone was either cheering, laughing their ass off, or fist-pumping, and Quinn felt like there should be someone filming them for a trashy reality show and where did Rachel learn to _dance_ like that?

All the normal, sane people seated on the lawn outside of their little group were trying desperately not to stare at the psycho teenagers that were going wild and weren't even _drunk_. Sure, there were a few people scattered across the field dancing but they were- where did that little brunette learn to _dance_ like that?

Rachel and Santana had since moved on to..breakdancing? While the other glee club members had started dancing around them, making sure to keep enough of a radius around the two so as to not get slugged in the face.

"How is everybody doing tonight?" The DJ yelled into the microphone. He was met with loud cheers, particularly from a rowdy group of teens in the middle of the field. "Wow, where did they learn to dance like _that_?" More cheers, "How about those two down there, folks! Damn.

"Alright everyone I'm gonna have to cool it down here a little to introduce our next act."

There were collective groans, "Hey, hey, I know, party hard. But I can vouch for these guys and they're pretty spankin'! So without further ado, I introduce to you The Bob Marley Tribute Band!"

"Woo! Yeah!" Puck screamed, waving a red, green and black flag in the air while Brittany did something that looked a lot like her hairography demonstration while wearing her newly acquired rasta wig.

The band came on and started into "Three Little Birds", and the club laid down their picnic blankets. The sun was beginning to set.

"Anyone hungry?" Artie asked from his wheelchair, "I think they're selling nachos over there."

"Dude, I heard the nachos here are killer," Sam commented.

At the collective 'yes', Finn hopped up, "I'll go with you. Anyone want anything else?" He asked, glancing around at the group as they settled onto the blankets.

"Don't forget to get one without cheese for the vegan," Quinn piped up, looking down affectionately at said vegan, who had her head in the blonde's lap and her legs in Puck's.

"Right," Finn said, gripping the handles on Artie's wheelchair.

"B wants a slushie," Santana yelled.

Finn nodded, "Got it." He turned to leave.

"Cotton candy!" Mercedes added, and Finn grimaced at the thought of carrying all of it _and _pushing Artie.

Nevertheless, he replied, "Cotton candy, check," and turned around.

"Oh! Sorry, Finn, but could you also grab a water? I'm starting to feel the beginnings of dehydration and I simply cannot have that happening."

"Sure, Kurt." Finn said through gritted teeth. "Let's go, Artie." Now, he was just mad.

Puck grinned and nudged Rachel's legs for her attention. She glanced at him and he winked then turned his head, cupping his hands over his mouth, "Hey Finn, get-"

"Get it yourself!" The boy roared over his shoulder. Everyone chuckled and finally settled down, listening to the music and watching the sunset.

Kurt and Mercedes were talking quietly on their blanket, as were Tina and Mike. Santana and Brittany were cuddled up, but Brittany had one hand on Sam's mop of hair, slowly petting it while he watched the band.

Puck was watching the band as well- his love for Bob Marley was no secret- and he sat with his eyes glazed over and his fingers tapping out the beat on Rachel's knees. Rachel herself had her eyes closed, head rested in Quinn's lap as the girl absentmindedly ran her hands through the brunette's hair.

Finn and Artie soon returned, Finn struggling with all the requested items and Artie wheeling himself.

As everything was passed around the group, Quinn poked Rachel's cheek.

Rachel cracked an eye open, "Why'd you stop?" She pouted.

"Your nachos," Quinn chuckled, placing the nachos on the diva's stomach and popping one in her mouth, her other hand returning to her hair.

"Oh," Rachel fell silent, then giggled, "Feed me, Quinn."

"What?"

"Feed me!" Rachel repeated with a teasing grin, "Please?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Oh alright," She grabbed a chip and guided it above Rachel's head, "Open up the airpoooort!" She laughed and made strangled plane noises as she neared her mouth.

Rachel growled and snapped the nacho out of the air as soon as it was in her range.

"Feisty," Quinn commented, watching Rachel munch happily on her dinner.

"Hey Quinn?" Rachel asked, swallowing the last of her nacho.

"Hmm?"

"You're my best friend, you know that?" Her voice was a whisper, only for them.

Quinn melted but said nothing, just soaking in the moment, the atmosphere.

Rachel spoke again, "Am I yours?"

It was so soft, and even though Quinn knew it wasn't what Rachel actually meant, she took the question, and her answer, in an entirely different context.

She allowed a gentle smile to overtake her face and looked Rachel in the eye as she nodded,

"You're mine."

**A/N: This is so overdue and so horrible. I apologize, I just wanted to get something out. Review anyway! Haha. I have the next couple of days off, so the next update will happen before Sunday. And this time I mean it.**

**A/N 2: Also, If you ever notice that gangsta!Rachel and gangsta!Quinn pop up a lot in my stories, it's totally on purpose because I love the thought of them being secret gangstas.**


	9. If You're Wondering

"Eat your stir-fry, Quinn, I worked hard on it."

"I'm good Mom, really."

"I insist."

"I _un_sist."

Judy huffed, "Are you really not hungry or is something bothering you? Did something at you your movie night with Rachel yesterday? Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Movie night was great- we watched the Notebook- there's nothing to say, and I'm really not hungry, honest." She held out her pinky for her mom to shake, smiling sincerely to drive her point home.

Judy hesitated before leaning forward and linking her pinky with Quinn's. She narrowed her eyes at her daughter as they slowly shook their linked fingers, "No hidden teenage angst?"

Quinn let out a laugh, "No hidden teenage angst."

Judy released her finger, "Okay, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here. But I'm still mad about the stir-fry." She shook her finger at the other blonde.

The girl chuckled, "Can I be excused, then? I have something to do, and it's kind of important..."

Judy may not have liked the fact that her daughter was essentially deserting her at the dinner table, but she trusted Quinn that it was actually something urgent and not anything to do with her. She sighed, "Of course, honey, but clean up your plate first." Quinn nodded.

When she reached her room, she dived headfirst onto her bead, grabbing her iPod from next to her pillow. Clicking the home button, she unlocked it and began browsing her personal selection of songs. She hadn't lied to her mother- this _was _important. Quinn was fed up with waiting for something to happen between her and Rachel. The girl obviously wasn't going to be making any moves anytime soon. The blonde had no doubt that Rachel would still be unsure of Quinn's affections if they challenged her to a diva-off.

If she wanted all her hard work to come to fruition, she'd have to be the catalyst.

That was why she'd consulted the list for something that would tie it all together. Screw completing it- Quinn wanted results _now_.

And that was why, come Monday, she was going to sing. She'd always been somewhat wary of serenades. Hell- they happened so often within the glee club, she'd become a little desensitized to their effects. Quinn felt it cheapened the sentiment behind the song a little when it was done in front of other people, but she knew she could keep it genuine and effective with the right song.

Make no mistake, she liked Rachel. A lot. Quinn liked to think of it as being as close to love as you can be without actually _being_ love. She just wasn't ready for words like that yet. Anyway, she loved everything about the girl, but the only message Quinn was looking to convey with her song was _Hello, why don't we stop dancing around each other and just make out?_

Because after that happened, then she could tell Rachel everything that made Quinn's insides squirm with love for her- _like_ for her.

She continued to peruse her library. It couldn't be sappy, god knows how many times sappy songs had been sung to various members of the club. Direct, fresh, _obvious_. That's what Quinn wan-

Her eyes widened as her lips curled into a grin.

_Yes._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Santana sighed and tapped her pencil on her desk. English was a drag. She glanced over at Quinn in the desk to her left, who wasn't faring too well with staying awake. Santana ripped a corner off of her (blank) assignment and scrawled out a note. She feigned yawning, stretching out her arms and dropping the note on Quinn's desk on the way down.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at the slip of paper that landed on her desk. She caught the tail end of Santana's drawn-out fake yawn and rolled her eyes, unfolding the paper.

_Sup _

She had to hold in a laugh at that one. She pulled out a clean sheet of paper and wrote,

_Note passing? Really? You know we have phones, right?_

She pretended to drop the paper on the ground and stifled a giggle as the Latina muttered "Whoops, my paper!" and reached down to grab it. She scanned the note and huffed, writing another note and passing it behind her back.

_But this is so much cooler!_

Quinn picked up her pencil, but thought better of it and instead pulled out her phone.

**Welcome to the 21st century. What do you want? -Q**

A reply came almost immediately.

**I'm bored outta my friggin mind and u look like u've vacated yours. -S**

**I'm just nervous about today -Q**

**Relax Q you rehearsed w/ Fuckam like all day yesterday. U'll do great -S**

**..fuckam? -Q**

**Finn, Puck, Sam? get with the program. And if BerBer doesn't get it after this, she's probably too retarded for you anyway-S**

**Don't use the r word. and that name thing is so wierd -Q**

**Omg u sound like those lame commercials. You don't like it? I think its catchy, i came up w one for u and Berry too. Wanna hear it? -S**

**No. -Q**

**Faberry - S**

Quinn couldn't help but smile a little at that. Faberry. It sounded way better than any of the other name mashups the glee club had come up with in the past. Especially _Finchel._ It sounded like cough medicine- but Faberry, Faberry sounded _delicious_.

**It's alright -Q**

Santana smirked.

**You love it -S**

**How about we pay attention to the class now -Q**

Quinn felt her phone buzz again but stowed it away in her back pocket instead, turning her attention to the front of the room and ignoring it, earning a scowl from her friend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally, it was the end of the day. Quinn wrenched open her locker, shoving everything she didn't need in it and slamming it shut. She started toward the choir room, only to run into Sam.

He put hands on her shoulders to steady her, "Whoa. Hey Quinn, you headed for glee?"

She nodded, "Yeah, having a minor panic attack. You don't think it's too forward?"

The blonde boy laughed as they headed down the hall, "No! You're gonna do great, and Rachel's gonna love it. Finn and Puck are already there setting up, and I'm ready to go, all we need is you. So, are _you_ ready?"

Quinn swallowed and took a deep breath when they reached the door. She turned to her ex-boyfriend and resolutely looked him in the eye, "Yeah." She said before pushing open the door. She and Sam were the last to arrive, and Mr. Schue looked up as they took their seats, Quinn next to Rachel in the last seat of the front row.

"Alright guys, today we have a very special performance lined up for us. Quinn? Do you want to go now?"

Quinn felt everyone's eyes on her as she nodded, "Yes please, Mr. Schue." She ignored Rachel's questioning gaze as Finn took his place at the drums, Puck with his electric guitar and Sam with his acoustic. Quinn took her place, front and center, and eyed the glee club, avoiding a certain brunette for fear of fainting. Everything was waiting on her cue.

She turned to looked sideways at Sam and nodded. He started in on the intro and a few members immediately recognized the song.

She took a breath right before she joined in and Finn began drumming.

_The moon was shining on the lake at night_

_The Slayer t-shirt fit the scene just right_

_Through smeared mascara, I looked into your eyes and saw a light._

She was completely immobile at first, the timid quality of her voice reflecting her trepidation. Then Puck joined in the background and she grew a little more comfortable, tapping the beat on her thigh as she sang.

_You told me stories about your chickadees,_

_They didn't like BB guns or stupid archery._

_John the lifeguard, he let them use the pool all day for free._

Puck quieted his guitar and It was just Finn and Sam scratching his muted strings.

_Then the conversation stopped_

_and I looked down at my feet._

_I was next to you and you were right there next to me then I said,_

The guitars joined back in as they all exploded into the chorus.

_Girl,_

_If you're wondering, if I want you to_

The three boys chimed in,

_I want you to_

Quinn smiled, getting into it,_ I want you to_

_I want you to, _Finn Puck and Sam sang.

_So make a move, 'cause I ain't got all night._

She finished the chorus and sauntered over to Sam as he played.

_The rest of the summer was the best we ever had._

_We watched The Notebook and it didn't make us sad._

She glanced at Rachel to see if she caught the reference to their movie night Saturday. The girl's face was the picture of shocked.

_I took you to Best Buy, you took me home to meet your Dad and Dad._

_Your Dad cooked meatloaf even though I don't eat meat,_

_I dug you so much, I took some for the team._

_Your Dad was silent, his eyes were fixed to what was on T.V_

_Then the conversation stopped, and I looked down at the ring._

_Your folks were next to you and you were right there next to me._

Quinn locked gazes with Rachel as she sang the next chorus.

_Then I said girl, if you're wondering if I want you too_

_(I want you too)_

_I want you too._

_I swear it's true._

_Without you, my heart is blue._

They cut to the bridge as Quinn began climbing the risers and slowly making her way around the seating area to her girl.

_So much pain, may come our way._

_There may be a day when we have nothing left to say._

_Then the conversation stops, and we're facing our defeat,_

_I'll be next to you and you'll be right there next to me and I'll say _

She rounded out her journey, making it full circle to stand in front of the brunette and point to her while she, Sam, Puck, and Finn pounded out the last chorus, the glee club now singing along. Challenge glinted in her eye as she sang the last line.

So make a move, cause I ain't got all night.

They finished with a loud whoop as Quinn plopped down into her chair with a satisfied smile and everyone clapped.

Finn, Puck, and Sam all high fived each other and took their seats.

And Rachel was speechless.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...and that's about it for today! I'll see you kids tomorrow." Mr. Schue smiled and gathered his briefcase, walking out the door, the rest of the club filing out behind him.

Finn left last, turning behind him to give Quinn a thumbs-up and a grin. She smiled briefly back at him before steeling herself. This was it, no interruptions here. She turned around to where she knew Rachel was behind h-

"Oof!" She exclaimed and instinctively wrapped her arms around the girl who had tackled her into a hug. Rachel pulled back and looked her in the eye, "That was a great performance..." She bit her lip

"You liked it, huh?"

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, "So...who was it for?"

Quinn leveled her with a look, but saw the twinkle in the brunette's eye and realized she was joking. She inhaled, ready to just come out and ask Rachel to be her girlfriend. She opened her mouth to speak- but Rachel was having none of that.

She grabbed Quinn by the collar and yanked her forward, roughly crushing their lips together. The blonde moaned immediately upon contact, growing embarassed when she did. She couldn't help it- how many times had she imagined this? And it was everything she dreamed of and more. Her hands went into action, one making its way around the brunette's waist and the other to the back of her neck, both intended to pull her closer.

She felt Rachel smile at her eagerness and- oh! Is that her tongue?

_It is! Oh my god, what do I do?_

_Open your mouth, stupid, you've done this before!_

Her body obeyed her mind, and then Rachel Berry's tongue was in her mouth and Quinn just died.

Rachel's hands reached up into blonde hair and lightly scratched her scalp as she pulled on the girl's bottom lip. "Hey, Quinn." She whispered against her lips.

"Mmm." Quinn murmured, enjoying that the other girl was now exploring her neck.

Rachel took her time answering back, trying to taste every inch of milky skin she could get to. She slowly made her way up to Quinn's ear, whispering, "I want you, too."

Quinn groaned, "Oh god." She pulled the girl back up to her mouth, kissing her one last time before pulling away and looking into Rachel's eyes. "Be my girlfriend," she breathed.

Rachel laughed and rested her head on Quinn's chest, "Was that a question?"

"Was that a yes?" The blonde countered, raising a brow. and looking down at the girl's hair.

She didn't answer because she'd turned her head, and her lips had wandered to Quinn's collarbone. she pressed a kiss to it before experimentally biting down.

Quinn gasped, "Raaach, answer me."

"Yes," she mumbled into the blonde's skin.

Quinn pulled her face back up to look at her and bit her lip as she asked, "So I'm yours?"

Rachel's smile grew tenfold, and she leaned up to sweetly press her lips to Quinn's before murmuring against them, echoing Quinn's words from the festival, "You're mine."

**A/N: Song is "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To by Weezer. I know I dragged the song scene out a little but that song fits this story so well and I wanted it to be a big part. Also, I think it would make an amazing song for someone to sing in glee club. Go listen to it and read the scene at the same time and you'll have a picture of how I imagined it.**


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